The JediDestined
by Fiona
Summary: [ON PERMINANT HIATUS!]Digimon Star Wars cross-over. First fic I ever started to write so first few chapters short and ropey. Myotismon and Exar Kun join forces to try to destroy the Digidestined and the Jedi.
1. And so it Begins

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon. I wish I did.

Author's note: I started to write this because Digimon was cancelled after Ep 26, Gateway to Home. This story picks up from the end of Sora's Crest of Love and kinda ignores the whole Eighth Child thing. (I don't like Kari very much)

The Jedi-Destined

After much debate Tai had called a halt to the trudge that had marked the groups day so far. Whether it was because he was tired or because the lake they were passing was just too inviting was open to debate, however Gomamon was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He wasn't actually sure what that phrase meant, but he had heard Izzy use it at one point so he was pretty sure it was clever. "Everyone in the water!" He dived in, letting the water flow past his curving body.

"Gomamon, wait! We don't know if it's safe. There could be evil digimon in there!" Joe's voice was partially muffled by the water.

Gomamon's head broke the surface. "Stop worrying Joe." He swum around in a circle, just for the fun of it. "Come on in, the water's fine!"

"Bad things happen by lakes. It's a fact." Joe pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Actually Joe, so far only one of our stops by a lake has caused trouble. The other two were uneventful." Izzy eased his laptop from its protective case and switched it on. "I'd say it's logical to assume that the first time we met with Seadramon was just bad luck." He began to type.

"Well that it from Izzy until he comes up for air," joked Matt. He sat and leant back against a tree.

T.K. moved towards him. "You not coming swimming Matt?"

Matt shook his head. "Go ahead if you want. I'll watch, but I've had enough physical work for a while." He pulled his harmonica from his pocket and watched the light play over its surface. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mimi and Sora disappear around the edge of an outcrop of rocks. _Mimi probably wants to clean her dress. _ He heard a squeal and looked up to see T.K. playing with Gomamon in the lake. Gomamon was splashing T.K. and T.K. was trying to splash the digimon back, but Gomamon was too fast. A splash and a yell and Joe joined them in the lake. Matt smiled to himself, then wiped it from his face as soon as he realised he was doing it. Losing cred was not an option.

"I saw that." Gabumon sat down beside him.

"Saw what?" asked Matt.

"You were smiling." Gabumon followed Matt's gaze out onto the lake. "You care for him, what does it matter if the others know?"

Matt shrugged. "It matters to me. I don't like appearing vulnerable like that." He moved his harmonica to his lips and started to play.

Sora felt a smile play across her face as the wind brought Matt's sorrowful tune to her ears.

"Hey Sora, why is it the boy's don't mind being dirty?"

Sora looked up from her cleaning towards Mimi. "Beat's me. Maybe it's genetic." They both went back to washing.

On the bank the girls two digimon stood forlorn. "Sora, what should we do?" asked Biyomon.

"Yeah," agreed Palmon. "It's not like we can help you to clean your clothes."

"Looks like we're stopping here for the night Biyo," replied Sora. "Why don't you both find some food?"

"Okay." The pink and green digimon disappeared into the vegetation.

Mimi cocked her head. "Listen Sora. Matt's playing."

Sora nodded. "He sounds so sad."

Mimi giggled. "Sometimes he sounds so sad I just want to give him a hug and make it all better."

"I know what you mean." Sora shook out her top. "So let's go cheer him up."

Tai watched from the shade of a tree as the girls snuck up behind Matt and in unison planted a kiss on either side of his face. He watched as Matt half heatedly chased after the girls yelling about payback. _Figures. The girls are always chasing after him anyway. Only this time it's a bit more literal._

He tried to bring his thought back to the matter at hand. _Myotismon. _The evil digimon was almost certainly chasing them after last night's debacle. And the only weapons they had against him were the crests. Tai reached beneath his shirt and pulled his out, letting the brass tag spin on the end of its chain. Under the glass the orange sun-symbol that represented courage shone with its own light. 

__

So these allow our digimon to digivolve further. I wonder what else they might do? Tai reluctantly put the tag back under his shirt.

He scanned across his group. _They're all counting on me. The group fell apart while I was gone. I just wish I knew what to do._

"Whatcha thinking about Tai?"

Tai looked down at the yellow lizard he called friend. "The crests." He looked back up into the distance. "We know that they let you digimon digivolve a step further, but what about us?"

Agumon cocked his head to one side, thinking. "I don't think they work on humans Tai. You share your energy with us. That's enough to use the crests."

"But they wouldn't have these meanings if it wasn't important." Tai thought back to the occasions that their crests had glowed. "They only glow when we show those parts of our personalities."

"You're right."

Tai swung run to face Izzy. The red haired boy sat, still typing on his laptop, but now his attention was focused on Tai's conversation with Agumon.

"I noticed my crest first glow when Kabuterimon digivolved into MegaKabuterimon, and the same event occurred just before Birdramon digivolved to Garudamon for the first time." Izzy looked back at his screen. "It would seem a viable hypothesis that the crests only become active once the holder displays the trait inherent in their crest."

"Yea, but that still doesn't explain why I got the crest of courage instead of one of the others." Tai gazed into space. "There must be a reason for all of it, why we were chosen to be here…" He sighed. "I hope you'll have better luck figuring it out than I have."

__

Yeah, I have all the answers don't I, thought Izzy wryly. He turned back to his laptop.

Myotismon was having no luck following the Digi-destined in his scrying glass. Somehow an aura surrounded them that shielded them from his view.

"Curses," he muttered.

"What's that boss?"

Myotismon resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Rolling eyes were unbecoming in an evil digimon of his calibre. "Never mind Demidevimon, it is none of your concern." He turned his eyes back to the mirror. In it, the black wisps of smoke drifted without rhyme or reason.

Myotismon peered closer. There was something in there, something flickering…

"Er…boss?" The bat digimon shuffled from foot to foot. Myotismon ignored him. "Boss?" tried the black digimon again.

"Leave me."

Demidevimon beat a hasty retreat.

Myotismon continued to gaze. The mists still rolled, but it was as if he could see a face peeping through the darkness.

__

Myotismon.

The evil digimon jerked back. "Who is it that?"

__

Your salvation. You will help me defeat the Chosen Children. Unbidden a face rose from the murky depths. The creature's eyes glowed fiercely. _They will bring order to both our worlds. We must prevent this._

"And what if I wish to work alone?" the vampire challenged.

The misty face considered him quizzically. _Why then we both fail and good will triumph._

"I have no wish of that. Those children my well be my downfall." He drew his cape around himself. "They hold powers I cannot defeat."

__

But together maybe we can. Here, in my world, forces favour us.

Myotismon considered this. "But how can we bring them to you? I have neither the knowledge nor the equipment…"

__

That does not matter. The forces of good will bring them as champions of your world to protect mine. The creature snickered. _All must balance they say. They are fools._

Myotismon nodded his consent. "The forces of good believe that as a defence against the knowledge that we are stronger." In a louder voice he called out, "Demidevimon!"

"Yeah boss?" From the response time Myotismon decided that the bat digimon must have been listening outside the door.

"Gather my troops. We're going on a little trip." Myotismon began to cackle gleefully.

__

The master has lost it, thought Demidevimon as he flew through the corridor. _First he talks to himself, now he want us to go on 'a little trip'._

"Hey bowling ball!" Gatomon bounded out from a corner. "What's going on? The entire castle is preparing to leave."

He smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know, Kitty?"

"_Lightning Paw!_" Demidevimon fell, three bright red scores cutting across his face. "Now you listen to me Bat-boy. NEVER cross me. I say jump, you say how high. Got it?"

"One of these days Gatomon you will end up crossing the wrong person, and I'll be there to watch." The bat digimon picked himself up off the floor. Gatomon just shrugged. "Well, since you asked so _nicely _I'll tell you. The master's lost it. He's been talking to that damn mirror for hours about 'the destruction of the Digidestined'."

"Eavesdropping is a dirty habit."

Demidevimon glared at her. "You wanted to know. Don't question my methods."

Gatomon glared at him. "We should get to the courtyard. We'll be leaving soon."

They travelled in silence.

"Are we all assembled Demidevimon?" asked Myotismon.

"Yes master. All the most ferocious digimon in your service have been gathered."

Myotismon smiled a joyless smile.

"Er boss….?" queried Demidevimon. Myotismon turned to him. "What are we waiting here for?"

Myotismon smiled in response. He watched as the air started to shimmer. "That." Demidevimon watched as the air warped to form a dark gaping hole.

"Er boss, you're not thinking about going in there?" The bat digimon hopped from foot to foot. Myotismon merely smiled the more.

Sora was sitting with a fishing rod some distance away from the others, trying to catch fish for their supper. She stared into the water. Under it's crystal surface she could see fish darting to and fro. _I bet Gomamon put them up to this. _She stood up and walked back towards the others.

"Hey Sora," yelled Tai. "Didn't you catch any fish?"

"No. Gomamon scared them all away, didn't you?"

Gomamon gave her a _Who, me? _look. "I didn't tell them. Must be all the noise you humans were making."

"That is so….Aaaaaiiiiieeeee!" Sora dropped to her knees and put her hands to the sides of her head. Tai was at her side in a second.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Sora rocked back and forth with her mouth open in a silent scream. "Joe?" called Tai.

"I'm right here," replied Joe, skidding to a halt besides Tai. He bent to look at Sora's face. "Sora, can you hear me?" Sora just kept screaming silently.

"Sora!" Biyomon fluttered down to join them. "What's wrong with her Joe?"

"I don't know."

Sora's mouth slowly closed. She swallowed.

"Are you okay?" asked Joe.

Sora started to shake her head, then though better of it. "It was like my head was splitting in two." She pulled her knees to her chest. "It was horrible."

"It's okay Sora. We were all just worried about you." Biyomon leant supportively against Sora's leg.

Tai and Joe helped Sora back to her feet. Together they stumbled back to the camp.

"Hey Sora what's wrong?" called Mimi from under a tree.

Sora smiled back weakly. "Nothing much."

"Hey guys!" Izzy came running up. "Gennai just sent me an e-mail to say we were leaving the Digiworld immediately."

"What? Is he sending us home?" asked Mimi.

"I don't know," admitted Izzy. "He just said we're leaving now." Matt and the others joined them. "What we have to do," continued Izzy, " is to hold out our digivices and crests." He suited action to word, removing his digivice from his shoulder strap and pulling his own crest over the top of his head. His items were soon joined by six matching sets.

"Now what?" asked Matt.

Izzy's reply was drowned out by the wind.


	2. Seven Lost Children and Two Confused Tra...

DISSCLAIMER: The cast of Digimon belongs to Toei (I think) and Doyle belongs to Joss Wheton's twisted little mind. Feona belongs to me (If you want to borrow her just ask.) The setting belongs to George Lucas.

Authors Notes: So this introduces the two main characters that the Digidestined will be working with. Anyone wanting to know more about Doyle's life before this should watch the first nine episodes of Angel: The Series and should probably check out my other fics. I apologise for not having TPM as the time frame, but these two characters I am hoping to continue on into another series eventually. Besides, I never liked the Jedi Academy Trilogy, so I wanted to see if I could do better.

Next chapter should be Myotismon.

"This is nice." Doyle sat on a crate in the forest clearing that served as a temporary landing pad for the _Blue Ray_.

"You would say that," came a voice from the top of the landing ramp. Moments later the owner of the voice appeared. It was a girl in her late teens dressed in black trousers and boots, a white vest and a blue jacket, the same shade as the ships hull. Behind her she dragged a crate the same size and shape as the one Doyle was sitting on. "How about you giving me a hand?"

The man shrugged and walked up the ramp. Together they managed to pull down the crate. "So what are we doing here anyway?"

Feona shrugged. "This is where I was told to make the drop by my contact." She scanned the sky. "They should be here by now."

Doyle shaded his eyes and looked up as well. He shook his head. "Maybe they're not coming."

"Last time I deal with this lot if they don't come." She went back up the ramp and returned with her gun belt and tool kit. "Since we'll be stuck for a while I'd better take a look at that repulsorlift." She gestured at one of the landing struts. "It sounded funny as we landed."

Doyle pulled off his nerf-hide jacket. "You do that." He leant back and put his hands under his head. "I'll keep watch."

"Sure," replied Feona from under the ship.

She worked for about five minutes before she heard Doyle swearing in his native tongue. "What?"

Doyle was on his feet moving towards her. "We've got company." He pointed up.

Above them Feona could make out the triangular shape of an Imperial Star Destroyer. "Sithspit!" She ran up the ramp.

"Are we running for it?" Doyle asked, running behind her.

Feona started pulling equipment from a locker. "No, we'd be caught in their tractor beams." She pulled a large quantity of netting out. "Help me with this." They ran outside with the netting bundled in their arms. Reaching out to the Force Feona threw up the camouflage net and used telekinesis to move it into position over the top of the ship. "This'll keep them from spotting us up there."

Doyle moved back up the ramp. "I hope you're right. They wouldn't mind getting their hands on either of us." He shuddered at the thoughts of what would surely follow their capture. "I don't suppose you'll be 'listening' for them will you?"

Feona joined him at the top of the ramp. "I think that might be a good idea." She reached into a weapon locker and tossed Doyle his blaster. With her other hand she reached into the secret compartment and withdrew a shiny metal tube. She clipped her lightsaber to her gunbelt. "Doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare for me to go deaf though."

The wind dropped from around the children. Looking around Izzy noticed that the scenery had changed. "I think we've arrived."

"The question is, where is here?" asked Matt.

"I don't care as long as we didn't walk here I'm happy." Mimi knelt down on the ground. "Besides, it doesn't look like we're home so what's the hurry?"

Tai tucked his tag back under his shirt. "We should scout around a bit, find out if anyone's nearby."

"It's a bit late for that Tai."

Tai turned to Gabumon. "Why?"

Before the digimon could answer the group was hit by several stun blasts.

"Problem?" asked Doyle, hearing Feona suck in her breath.

"Oh yes," grimaced Feona. "Stormtroopers have landed and are fanning out." She winced. "I don't know what the hell that was, but it was like the fabric of the universe was spilt in two for a moment." She heard a strangled noise from Doyle. She turned and saw his eyes screwed shut. "Oh great. Just great."

Doyle slowly opened his eyes. "We need to go out there." He scrabbled in the first aid kit and took some painkillers. " I know what it was you felt. We've got some visitors to collect."

Feona checked the charge on her blaster. "I hope these people can help us get out of here."

Doyle shook his head. "They're just kids. The Imps just stunned them into submission." He checked his own blaster. "And they had these really freaky pets."

Feona moved to the hatch. "I hate to ask, but we need every advantage we can get. My skills are pretty short ranged."

Doyle nodded. The movement caused his skin to turn green and blue spikes to emerge from his skin. "Let's get this over with."

Feona nodded and hit the hatch release. She kept her blaster out as she scanned the area. "I'm not getting anything. You?"

Doyle inhaled deeply and frowned. "I smell something funny over there." He pointed.

Feona moved smoothly out from the ship, eyes darting to and fro. Doyle covered her until she stopped, then followed.

"You'd better take point. I can't find them." Feona motioned Doyle past her. They continued on until they found a patrol, fully equipped with speeder bikes and AT-ST walkers. Both swore silently under their breaths. On a hover bed between the bikes were seven children, each with an arm around a small creature. Doyle and Feona withdrew to a safe distance.

"Something is off about those children. I can feel it" whispered Feona.

"Doesn't matter. The Powers or the Force or whatever wants them away from the Empire." Doyle watched them. "Five troopers plus that walker will be hard to take."

"And we can't hurt the children while doing it," added Feona. She thought hard for a moment. "One of the children is faking it," she finally announced.

"Can you tell when the rest are about to wake up?" asked Doyle.

Feona nodded. "I think so. It's like riding a bike, you never forget."

The duo kept pace with the transport until Feona nodded. As they had previously arranged they shot the lead troopers, causing their speeder bikes to block the path of the convoy. Feona leaped up and lit her lightsaber. "I suggest you leave before I have to use this." The troops opened fire. Opening herself to the Force Feona batted away two of the bolts. The third she absorbed and spat back at the troopers as an energy beam from her left hand. Meanwhile Doyle had managed to take out another trooper with careful aim.

__

"Super Shocker!" The bug thing that had been held by the red haired boy took flight and let lose with an electric charge greater than the one Feona had used moments ago. It's bolt stuck home on the chest plate of one of the troopers.

"_Poison Ivy_!" Now the green plant like one was moving and wrapping vine like fingers around the legs of the AT-ST. The joints of the machine creaked and groaned, trying to get free.

"_Boom Bubble_!" A dent appeared on the control cabin. "_Boom Bubble_!" A second dent appeared alongside it.

"What is going on?" yelled Feona.

"_Blue Blaster_!" "_Pepper Breath_!" "_Spiral Twister_!" Three waves of energy hit the side of the walker, causing it to topple.

Doyle appeared from the bushes. "We'd better get out of here. They will've radioed in the attack."

Feona nodded and ran to the floating bed. "Come on kids, wake up."

"Can we go shopping Mommy?" asked a girl dressed in pink groggily.

Doyle skidded up along side Feona, shaking away the spikes. "Come on kids, now's not the time to be sleeping."

A tall blonde boy picked up a smaller blonde boy in his arms. "And why should we trust you?"

"We didn't shoot you. They did," pointed out Doyle.

The red haired boy, the tall blonde, the other girl and the brown haired boy all exchanged glances. Finally the brown haired boy replied "Okay, we'll go with you. But no funny stuff."

"We need to hurry. These helmets house a complex signalling device. They'll probably have called for reinforcements as soon as the attack began," cautioned the red-haired boy.

"This way. I have a ship that'll get us off this rock." Feona took off towards the _Blue Ray_. The others followed, Doyle bringing up the rear and the children carrying or dragging their pets with them. Feona got them all up the ramp, then hit the seal by the door. "Any of you children able to shoot?"

"What? With guns?" asked the smaller blonde. "I'm not allowed to use guns am I Matt?"

"It's just like in the sims, okay kids." 

"What are sims? Is it an abbreviation of simulations?" asked the red head.

"Just like computer games kids," tried Doyle, using the terminology from his world. All the kids' eyes lit up.

"I'm pretty good at games," supplied the brown haired boy.

"Me and T.K. are okay too I suppose," offered the taller blonde boy.

Feona turned to Doyle. "Get then to the turrets and show them the basic firing controls. Then I expect you in the cockpit before I finish the prestart sequence."

"Yes Ma'am," joked Doyle, tossing her a mock salute.

Feona took the two girls, the red head, the tall blue haired boy and the seven animals to the lounge area. "Strap in," she said pointing to the seats. "It's likely to be a bumpy ride."

"What's going on?" asked the girl in the blue hat.

"We're going to have to run for it past a very big ship. It'll probably launch fighters and try to force us down." She saw their worried looks. "Don't worry. We'll make it. We've got the Force on our side." _I hope_ she mentally added on the way to the cockpit.

She sat in her chair and booted up the nav computer. She calculated a quick jump to the edge of the system as Doyle joined her, sliding into the co-pilot's chair.

"Ready," he asked.

Feona nodded and pulled on a head set. "Okay kids, I need to remember your numbers."

Doyle pulled on his head set. "T.K., you're in pod one, Tai, you're in pod two and Matt, you're in pod three. You all set?" He heard three affirmative answers. "Then let's kick it up!" He heard a group of war whoops over the head set and from the lounge.

Feona grinned and hit the ignition. She brought the repulsorlifts up and kicked in the sublight drive. The _Blue Ray_ shuddered in protest as she made it climb at too steep an angle.

"We've got fighters coming in," called out Doyle. "Four TIE fighters at three-ten."

"I hope you guy's have figured out how to use those guns, cause those TIE's will be in range in about two minutes." Feona rolled the ship so it's narrowest profile was presented to the oncoming fighters.

"We're getting a transmission from the Star Destroyer _Emperor's Glory_." Doyle looked up from his board.

"Put them through, but keep the kids out of the loop." Feona heard a crunch as the comm system changed frequencies. "This is Captain Feona Seacrest of the _Blue Ray_. What can I do for you?"

The Imperial captain came straight to the point. "Return to the planet's surface and power down or we will be forced to fire."

"Captain, I have a schedule to keep to, and my clients get most testy if I don't deliver on time." She looked at Doyle. _Thirty seconds_ mouthed Doyle. "Listen Captain, I'm leaving. You can _try _to stop me, but I doubt you can." There was another crunch as her headset changed back to the internal comm-link. "You set guys? It's now or never." The rangemeter flashed red and she could see the green streaks leaping out from the four fighters. Feona started the ship jinking until they closed to half a klick. "Get ready, your first targets are coming up boys." Feona brought the ship round in a hard turn that even the inertial compensators could not keep up with.

"Yee ha!" came the yell from pod two as Tai's firing yielded a fireball. The remaining three fighters broke formation.

"Great shot," encouraged Doyle. He looked over at Feona. She was hunched over the controls.

"T.K., get ready." Feona swung the ship around and plunged into the atmosphere at a steep angle. The friction of the atmosphere caused the shields to glow. The TIE fighters however had to slow down due to their lack of atmospheric shields. Two fireballs marked the ends of two of their pursuers. "Good going T.K., Tai. Let's get the hell out of here!" She pulled up from the dive and threw all power to acceleration.

"Er, Feona," interrupted Doyle. "The _Emperor's Glory _has launched a whole squadron of TIE's."

"Bring em on," came Tai's voice from the headset.

"Tai, shut up." Feona turned to Doyle. "Are we clear?"

Doyle checked his board. "Half a klick to go." He watched a while longer until the gravity field warning light went out. "We're clear." Feona threw the hyperspace levers. The stars outside the cockpit window turned to streaks, then snapped back. "Got a new course Doyle?"

"Come about to five-ten. " 

Feona complied, then threw the levers once more. She leant back in her chair. "What the hell was all that about?"

Well? Comments sugestions and critisim equally well resieved.


	3. Getting to Know You

Myotismon stepped through the doorway and looked around. The home of this mysterious ally was surprisingly similar to his own. Tall stone wall rose to form an enclosure. "This is nice."

__

I'm glad you approve, replied his host sarcastically. Myotismon looked around for the source of the voice.

__

Do not bother yourself. I have long since been separated from the corporeal realm. The voice paused for a moment. _Your servants may stay here on the ground level, but you and I…_ The voice grew wistful. _Our place is not the dirt. We belong to the heavens._

The voice lead Myotismon to a large audience chamber at the top of the stone structure. _This is where I ruled. I commanded those weak minded fools to construct this place as a monument to my glory._

Myotismon looked around. He did have to admit that the view was impressive.

"So what are we to do about the forces of good?" Myotismon scanned the surrounding scenery.

__

They are already being taken care of. I have foreseen it. Without help they will wither and die like plants without water. I have allies who even now are ensnaring those who may oppose us.

"But can we trust them?" Myotismon's eyes roved around the room looking for a focus to address his comments to. "What is to stop them from siding with the forces of good?"

The sinister voice laughed. _I have offered them what all men crave. Power. They believe that they will control space once I have won._

Myotismon smiled cruelly. "But no one should taste power, they only want more." He looked back out the window. A shooting star appeared to fall.

__

Our guests have arrived. Skywalker is a fool to use my own planet as a training ground for his jedi. Soon they all including him will serve me.

"And then we can destroy the Digidestined with your army. Even their vaulted protectors cannot stand against so many of us."

The children, their pets and two adults collected in the ships lounge. Feona noticed that the blonde boys were again together. _Must be related with the similarity in appearance._ "So, any idea why the Imps were after you?" The children looked confused.

"Do you mean those man in white armour?" asked Izzy.

Doyle nodded. "In this world, there is a Galactic Empire. Those were the soldiers in its army."

Joe spoke up. "Before we go any further we should get to know each other." The children all looked at him. "What? Can't I have good ideas now and then?"

"No Joe." 

Feona jumped. The small creature by the blue haired boy was talking.

Gomamon continued on regardless. "If you have too many good ideas the world as we know it will end."

Tai decided to step in. "I'm Taichi Kamiya, but everyone calls me Tai." He pointed at the orange lizard next to him. "That's Agumon."

"And he talks too?" asked Doyle.

"Yup," replied Agumon in a high pitched voice.

The taller blonde went next. "Yamato Ishida. But I prefer Matt." He put his hands on the smaller blonde's shoulders. "This is my brother Takeru Takashi."

"T.K.," corrected the smaller boy firmly. He held out the pig like creature he held in his arms. "This is Patamon."

"Pleased to meet cha," said the batpig.

Matt motioned to the dog thing besides him. "This is Gabumon." The creature merely nodded to Feona and Doyle.

The short read haired boy went next. "My name is Koushirou Izumi." The small boy bowed slightly to them. "…but everyone calls me Izzy. And this is Tentomon."

"Hi, I'm Mimi Tachikawa, and this is Palmon."

"Sora Takenouchi and Biyomon."

The white thing spoke up again. "I'm Gomamon and the loser on my right is Joe Kido."

"I hope this isn't a rude question but what are those things?" asked Feona.

Tai opened his mouth to answer, but Doyle got there first. "Digimon. And these children are the 'Digidestined' whatever that means."

"Intriguing," said Izzy. "How do you know so much about the Digimon?"

"Vision?" asked Feona.

"Vision," Doyle confirmed. "These children have been brought here to learn to use their powers correctly in order to defeat an alliance of…" His brow furrowed as he searched for the names. "Exar Kun and Myotismon," he finished.

The children gasped. "Myotismon?" repeated Tai.

Izzy however was not to be side tracked. "What do you mean vision?"

Doyle sighed. "I get visions from time to time of events about to happen that both myself and Feona have to stop."

"What is it with you two anyway?" asked Agumon.

Mimi giggled "Maybe they're married."

Doyle and Feona blushed. "No, I'm just a friend of his," explained Feona. "I'm really the one the visions are for we think. Doyle was brought here by some force to work with me."

"I'm like you guys. My home is in another dimension." He looked sad for a moment.

Feona put an arm around him. "I'm sure you'll get back to them one day."

Matt nodded sympathetically. "We know how you feel. We haven't seen our families in almost three months."

"So your visions are connected to you having two faces?" asked Izzy.

Doyle froze. "What do you mean?"

"I think Izzy's lost it," muttered Tentomon. "The interdimentional transport must've fried his brains."

Izzy blushed. "I saw him change while you guys were still asleep."

Feona blinked. " I knew one of you was faking it."

"How?" asked Gomamon. "I saw those beam things hit you before they got me."

Izzy shook his head. "I don't know. I came to as they were loading us onto that hovering platform."

Feona attempted to drag the conversation back to the point. "Who's this Myotismon? Is he another digimon?"

In response Izzy removed his backpack and took out a yellow and white box. Feona watched fascinated as he switched on the laptop and typed. He pulled Feona down to view the screen. On it was a picture and several boxes containing texts she did not recognise. "That's Myotismon."

Doyle moved to look at the screen. "That looks a lot like Japanese. And that text on top looks like English."

"It is."

"What does it say?" asked Feona, peering at the picture.

"The English just says Myotismon. I have no idea what the Japanese says." Doyle looked at Izzy. Izzy shrugged.

"How come?" asked T.K. "You're speaking in Japanese but you can't read it?"

Doyle and Feona exchanged glances. "We're speaking in Basic," she said.

"But that's impossible!" said Joe. "We're hearing you in Japanese."

"Can you understand me now?" asked Feona.

"Of course," replied Sora.

Doyle made a face. "I hate when you speak Correllian. You know I only understand a little."

"But that's impossible," said Izzy. "Both Correllian and Basic can't sound like Japanese."

"Maybe it's not how they're saying it, but how we hear it," suggested Gomamon.

Doyle muttered softly under his breath.

"That was English," said Joe. He responded in kind.

"Funny accent," replied Doyle in Basic, "but still recognisable."

"This is too weird," said Tai to no one in particular.

Doyle scowled. "I think the Powers are playing their tricks again. They'll make allowances for their warriors, but not for us humble messengers."

"I don't understand," said Sora.

"When I first arrived here I had to learn Basic. For about six months I couldn't talk to anyone." Doyle sighed. "And yet they lay on instantaneous translation for you. Life is not fair."

Feona shrugged. "Maybe they don't have time before Myotismon makes his move to learn Basic." She pointed back at the screen. "So what does this say Izzy?"

"Just his attacks. _Crimson Lightning, Grizzly Wing _and _Nightmare Shadow_. And that he's an Ultimate digimon." Izzy shut down his laptop.

Mimi yawned. "I'm tired. Can we go to sleep somewhere?"

Feona thought for a moment. "You two girls can take my cabin. The boys however, they'll have to use one of the empty cargo bays."

"Hey no fair," protested Joe.

"Space is limited," said Doyle. "You're just luck that we're on our way back for another run."

Feona couldn't sleep. She had tried, but Mimi kept muttering about shopping and the mall. Sora, Biyomon and Palmon seemed unaffected by this. Silently Feona considered what should happen next. She shrugged. Whatever it was, she was bound to be needed to help; otherwise the children would not have fallen practically into her lap. And it was something that would require a jedi. She sighed and moved into the lounge, fetching the remote and her lightsaber. She lost herself in the rhythm of blocking and absorbing the low powered bolts. Finally the remote powered down and she shut off her lightsaber.

"That was way cool!"

She spun and saw Tai standing behind her, bereft of both gloves and goggles, hair tousled from sleep. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry." The boy shrugged. "I heard a funny noise so I came to investigate and found you doing…" he made a vague gesture at the lightsaber hilt in her hand, "what ever it is you were doing."

Feona smiled. "It's a lightsaber. Jedi use it for duelling and deflecting laser blasts."

Tai's eyes sparkled. "Can I try?"

"I guess. But not with a real one." She searched in a cupboard and drew out two padded sticks about the same length as a lit lightsaber. She threw one at Tai, which he caught deftly out of the air. "Let's see how good you are at duelling."

Tai's smile became feral. "When ever you're ready."

Feona started with a gentle lunge that Tai easily beat to one side. Feona swung her stick round in a scything motion. Tai jumped back, then swung at her side. Feona blocked. "You're good. Ever done any fencing?"

Tai swept at her legs. "Never." Feona jumped over the top, using her height to give a blow that, had it been a real lightsaber would have spit Tai in two. Tai's response was even faster however. He rolled out of the way and back onto his feet. Suddenly he dropped the stick. "Whoa."

Feona's brow wrinkled. "What's wrong?"

Tai looked freaked. "What did I just do?"

"Sorry?"

"I've never done anything remotely like fighting. And yet…" He ran a glove free hand through unruly and drooping hair. "I could almost see what you were going to do next."

Feona put a supportive arm around his shoulders. "I know it's scary, but it's okay. It's why you were sent here, I think."

Tai looked up at her. "What?"

"Doyle said that you were sent here to find how to use your power." She picked up the sticks and put them away. "It doesn't seem like a stretch that you are Force sensitive."

"Hmmm." Tai considered this. "We know we were chosen as the Digidestined for some reason. Maybe this Force thing you're talking about is it."

"You should go back to sleep. We'll be arriving on Coruscant tomorrow. We can get some help for you there."


	4. Bath Time!

"Why are we here boss?" asked Demidevimon.

"Our ally says that the Digidestined will be coming here, to this world." Myotismon clenched his fist. "They only have simple traders as friends. We will crush them." He surveyed the cityscape. "Gatomon."

"I'm here my lord."

"Ready those of our army who can fly. Our battle will be fought in the sky of this sprawling metropolis." He heard Gatomon pad quietly away. He smiled to himself. Exar Kun even now was bending the wills of those on Yavin to his own. Soon an army of jedi would serve them both. "And then the Digidestined will die."

"Come on, wake up." Feona shook Doyle hard.

Doyle muttered in English for a bit until he opened his eyes. "What?"

"We're dropping out of hyperspace in half an hour."

Doyle sighed and threw off the thin blanket he had been sleeping under. "We should wake the kids up. They'll want to see Coruscant." He walked over to where Matt was sleeping with T.K. in his arms. "Wake up," he called gently. Two pairs of blue eyes fluttered open.

"What's going on?" asked Matt groggily.

"We'll be arriving soon. You'll want to watch," Doyle assured them.

Over on the other side of the cargo bay Feona was gently shaking Izzy awake. "Come on Izzy. Time to wake up."

Izzy's fingers spasmed over the computer case he held to his chest. Slowly his dark eyes opened. "Good morning." He sat up slowly.

"You feeling alright?" asked Feona.

"Just a little dizzy," he replied. The boy got shakily to his feet. "I'm fine."

Feona nodded and moved out of the cargo bay trusting Doyle to wake the others and move them into the lounge. She walked down the passage and entered what was formally her cabin and now functioned as the girls' dormitory. "Wake up Mimi, Sora."

Sora's eyes opened and she gently prodded Biyomon. "Wake up Biyo, it's morning."

Mimi stuck her head under her pillow. "Go away."

Feona sighed. "Mimi, if you don't get up I'm going to get a bucket of water and pour it all over you."

Mimi sat bolt upright. "I'm up."

"Good." Feona took a jacket out of her closet. "You may want to come to the lounge. We'll be landing on Coruscant soon and you won't want to miss the view."

Feona watched as Doyle slid easily into the co-pilot's chair and the children and their digimon gathered behind him. Out the view port the white streaks of hyperspace passed by. "Doyle?"

"Huh?" Doyle stretched like a cat.

"When we revert can you start trying to get us an appointment with Councillor Organa-Solo?"

Doyle dropped his hands back to his sides. "Sure."

Izzy watched the star streaks. "Fascinating. What are they?"

"We're travelling at about point four past lightspeed. Those are the rays of light from other stars." Feona checked her panel. "Two minutes."

"Everything looks good," replied Doyle.

Izzy persisted. "But how can you break the speed of light? Surely special relativity…"

Doyle shook his head. "Not valid kid. Hyperspace is some sort of dimensional plane that relativity goes out the window."

"Intriguing."

"Coming up on our exit vector." Feona put her hand on the hyperdrive levers. "Get ready to cut in sublight engines." She pulled back on the levers and the starlines snapped into small white specks.

"Oooo, pretty," cooed Mimi. Outside the window sat Coruscant. Its surface was laced with strings of lights.

"You know," said Feona, "the whole planet is one big city." She punched a few buttons. "We can get you some training there."

"Training?" asked Joe.

The children remained in the cockpit as the _Blue Ray_ made its approach to the spaceport.

"Aha!" called out Doyle.

Feona half turned to face him. "What?"

Doyle shut down a monitor. "We've got a reply from Councillor Organa-Solo's office. We can see her this afternoon as it's 'important jedi stuff'."

"Technical term that," grinned Feona. She set the ship down on the landing pad and turned to the children. "So, what are we going to do with you? You really don't look presentable to a high ranking member of the New Republic."

"Hey," protested Tai. "We've been hiking for three months. Let's see how hot you'd look after that."

"We could all do with a trip to the baths," suggested Izzy.

"Okay. I'll find out where the spaceport baths are." Feona pulled up the data packet they'd been sent on arrival on a datapad. "Here they are. Now I just have one problem." She faced the group. "We've got two girls and their digimon, and five boys and their digimon, plus me and Doyle. How are we supposed to work this?"

"I'll be okay," said Doyle. "Ex-school teacher remember. I think I can cope with ten people in the baths."

"That's what he thinks," supplied Gomamon.

Tai slowly rinsed the shampoo out of his hair using the thin trickle of water from the showerhead. _At least it's hot, _he thought. Finally removing all the detergent, Tai stepped out of the shower and pulled on the robe he had been given. _Now if only Doyle will hurry back with our clothes._ Tai looked around. As he had guessed, he had been the last of the boys to finish, probably due to his unruly hair. Joe stood, looking like a drowned rat while Matt, hair plastered flat to his skull, was busy drying T.K.'s hair with a towel. Izzy was shivering slightly, his hands tucked inside the overly long sleeves of his robe. "You okay Izzy?"

Izzy looked up. "I'm fine Tai. Just a little warm."

"Huh." Joe moved over to the red head and put a hand on Izzy's forehead. "You're running a fever Izzy. You should rest."

"I'm fine," insisted Izzy. "Just over heated from the hot water."

"Sure," agreed Matt sarcastically.

T.K. moved to face Izzy. "I don't want you to get sick Izzy. You would tell us if you felt bad, wouldn't you?"

Izzy cringed inwardly. He could sound as authoritative as he liked, but when he stood by T.K. there was no hiding the fact that he was the same height as the boy three years his junior. "I'm fine T.K. Just a little tired."

"Hey, I'm back!" Doyle walked in carrying several carryalls. "I got some odd looks at your clothes, but they all cleaned up fine." He put down three of the bags. "I'll be back in a minute, I'll just give these to the girls."

Tai, Matt and Joe each took one of the bags and started to pull clothes out, sorting them into piles. Soon all the boys were dressed.

"Hey Matt, you look funny with your hair like that," laughed T.K.

Matt found a mirror. His reflection showed his hair sticking up at all angles just like Tai's. "I really need a comb."

"Here." Joe finished flattening his hair and passed his comb over.

Matt passed the comb through his hair a few times then studied the result. "Better. I though I might get stuck with 'Tai hair' forever."

"Hey, my hairs not that bad!" Tai fixed his goggles, then pulled on his gloves.

Someone banged on the door. "You guys decent?" came Feona's voice from the other side of the door.

T.K. replied "Come on in!"

Feona walked in followed by Mimi and Sora.

Mimi spun in a pirouette. "I feel all squeaky clean!"

"Come on," cautioned Feona. "We should get back before your digimon wreck my ship."

Sora frowned. "I still don't see why we couldn't bring them. With all the weird things already in this place they wouldn't make much of a difference."

"Ahh, but they are recognisable," countered Doyle. "We wouldn't want someone to ask what your digimon were. It's bad enough that you kids dress funny…What is with those freaking gloves anyway?"

"Hey," countered Matt. "They're all the rage back home."

Feona sighed. "Come on. We need to get the digimon anyway before we go to the palace." She shooed the children out of the room.

"I'll catch up," called Doyle. "I still need a shower."

"We'll see you there then," replied Tai.

"You just love organising people, don't you Tai?" commented Feona quietly.

Tai shrugged. "Maybe. That's just the way I am."

Myotismon stood on the balcony of a Coruscant building. Above him the lights of the various craft sailed past. Behind him he heard Gatomon's near silent footfalls.

"You called me, My Lord?"

Myotismon smiled. "Give the order to our troops. They are to attack the Imperial Palace." He listened as Gatomon's footfalls retreated. "Demidevimon?"

"What ever you want boss."

"Our ally has a request." Myotismon turned and held out a datapad with a picture on it. "This woman poses a threat to our plans. She will be able to reach Skywalker, despite Exar Kun's best efforts to control him. You are to avoid the fight and instead you are to attack her. One blow should kill her."

"Got it." The bat digimon flew out the window, into the night. Myotismon smiled his cruel smile again.

"Remember, try to make a good impression." Feona gave a suspicious look to Gomamon.

"What? When have I ever made a bad impression?" Gomamon wriggled slightly in Joe's grip.

"Oh, the first time you and Joe met," supplied Mimi.

"That was his fault," protested Gomamon. "I did nothing to make him freak out."

"You were a brown flying seal. What was I supposed to do?" Joe shifted his grip. "Quit wriggling, Gomamon."

"Just be polite all of you. This woman is a highly placed politician, and jedi." Feona gave a final tug on her jacket. "Let's go." She walked confidently into Councillor Organa-Solo's inner office.

Inside sat the councillor, looking every inch as serene as in the telecasts.

"Good evening Captain Seacrest." Leia offered her hand.

Feona took it. "Thank you for agreeing to see us on such short notice Councillor."

Leia waved her hand. "Please call me Leia. I've had people brandishing my title like a weapon all day."

"In that case I'm Feona." She gestured behind her. "I don't know how much you were told about them."

"Very little," conceited Leia. "The message we received claimed that there were seven candidates for jedi training in your care. Are these children they?" Leia motioned to an area set up with several couches and a low table.

The children and their digimon sat down with the adults.

Joe shifted in his seat. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course…" replied Leia, unsure of his name.

"Joe, ma'am." Leia nodded for him to continue. "What are jedi? If you want us to train as them shouldn't we know what they are?"

Leia turned to Doyle and Feona. "You never told them?"

Doyle shrugged. "It never came up. We only found them this time yesterday."

"Hello, we are here," interjected Matt. "You _can _talk directly to us you know."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you." Leia folded her hands in her lap. "A jedi is a person who uses the Force to help others. They are given special training to allow them to use their powers."

"Powers?" asked Izzy. "What abilities would these entail?"

"It varies from jedi to jedi. In general jedi can read minds, have some degree of foresight, can enhance their own senses and co-ordination, and have some telekinetic ability." Leia produced her lightsaber. "This is a lightsaber. It is the preferred weapon of a jedi."

Tai turned to Feona. "Don't you have one of those?"

Feona turned white, then red. "It was a secret Tai. No one was supposed to know."

"Excuse me," interrupted Tentomon.

Leia leant over to Feona and Doyle. "The insect talks? I thought it was a pet." Doyle made a 'I'll explain later' motion.

"Excuse me," repeated Tentomon, "but something's wrong with Izzy."

Joe shifted to face the smaller boy. "Izzy?"

"I'm fine," he insisted. Under the mop of red hair though his face looked very pale.

"You don't look it," quipped Joe. "In fact you look about ready to drop."

"Can we just get on…" Izzy was interrupted by an explosion outside the place.

Leia moved quickly to her computer terminal and called up an exterior view. "These friends of yours?" she asked, holding up the screen. On it the group could see several digimon attacking the exterior of the building.

Please review. I crave reviews. It let's me know I'm doing this right!


	5. A Digi-Rumble in the Skies

"Can you get us access to the outside

"Can you get us access to the outside?" asked Tai urgently.

Feona guessed what Tai was thinking and looked at the digimon. "You're joking!"

"Please," pleaded Sora. "We can help. These are our enemies."

Leia considered for a moment then grabbed her commlink. "Follow me." She led the group to a private elevator and punched in a security code. Mimi gasped as the lift shot up. 

The doors opened and they all piled out. Above them a giant green bug swept down.

"Everyone down," yelled Leia. They all ducked, the blades on the end of the bug's claws whistling past them.

"Izzy?" asked Tai.

Izzy already had his laptop out and pointed at the bug. "Snimon. A bug digimon. Closely related to the Earth's praying Mantis." He scanned the skies and pointed at a far away shape. "Metalmeramon. A fiery digimon. His attack is Metal fireball."

Tai looked around. "Looks like it's you and Izzy on this one Sora."

"Right," agreed Sora. She held out her digivice. "Let's do it Biyo."

Leia, Doyle and Feona watched as the device whistled and began to glow white.

"Biyomon digivolve to…." The pink bird was surrounded by a white glow that grew and changed shape. "Birdramon."

Leia gasped as the glow faded revealing a red firebird. Birdramon flexed her wings and took flight.

"Tentomon?" Patamon looked at the bug digimon.

Tentomon shook his head. "I can't." He settled to the ground. "I can't get Izzy to help me."

Tai looked at the shaking red head. "I understand. Joe, can you do something for him?" The blue haired boy nodded and moved to Izzy's side. "Looks like we're on Agumon."

The lizard digimon nodded. "Agumon digivolve to Greymon." Again the device that Tai held out whistled and the Digimon glowed, changing shape. The adults barely had time to register the huge lizard with an armour plate covering his head before the digivice in Tai's hand began to glow with a fierce orange light. Under Tai's shirt a small trapezium over his breastbone glowed in sympathy.

"Greymon digivolve to Metalgreymon." The huge digimon was again glowing and reforming, this time into an even larger lizard, with a metal arm. "Let's rumble!" Metalgreymon launched himself on the building, supported by four wings.

Leia watched as Tai clenched the glowing digivice in his hand. "Go on, I know you can take him!" yelled the youth.

Leia turned to the others. "Why don't you help?"

Palmon looked sad. "We can't fly. All we could do is try to blast them, but at this range we could just as easily hit our friends."

Leia nodded. "We can help, I hope." She thumbed on her commlink. "This is Councillor Organa-Solo. Is any air support heading to the palace?"

"Leia?" A voice crackled over the commlink.

"Wedge! How did you manage to swing this?" Leia smiled to hear her old friend's voice.

"Oh, I'm desperate for any cockpit time."

Leia nodded. "Watch out. The fire-bird and giant lizard are on our side."

Even over the comm distortion Wedge's disbelief could be heard. "Did I hear you right? Some of those things are on our side?"

"Affirmative."

"Okay. I hope you know what you're doing Councillor." Wedge signed off.

Leia moved to face Tai. She squeezed his shoulder. "Your friends should get some help soon. Wedge and his pilots are some of the best in the Republic." She looked up as a squadron deck out in red flew overhead.

"_Demi-dart!_"

Leia looked down, over Tai's shoulder, in time to see a huge missile flying towards her. She knew she could never stop it before it hit. _I'm so sorry Han. You and the children will have to cope without me._ She closed her eyes in anticipation of the impact.

When no impact came she opened her eyes again. The missile had stopped millimetres from her face.

"Why did you close your eyes?" asked Tai. He followed her gaze to where the missile hung. It was kept in place by his hand gripping it. From the angle it was clear to Leia that Tai had caught it as it had been approaching him from an angle he could not see. "Wow." Tai's expression spoke volumes. He had not even known that he had moved his arm to stop it.

Izzy looked up. "It's Demidevimon!" He shakily got to his feet. "Get away from us you corrupter." One of Izzy's gloved hands started to glow purple. He moved his hand out in a throwing motion and a bolt of purple energy leapt from his fingers to strike the bat digimon. Demidevimon dodged and flapped away as fast as he could.

"Tentomon!" called Izzy.

The bug digimon nodded in agreement. "Tentomon digivolve to Kabuterimon." Again a glow surrounded the digimon, replacing the small red beetle with a large blue one.

Izzy watched intently as Kabuterimon flew into battle. "Kabuterimon, watch out!" Behind the blue beetle a ghostlike figure appeared. "That's Phantomon," called out Izzy, laptop back in hand. "Watch out for his…"

"_Shadow Scythe_!" interrupted the ghost digimon.

Kabuterimon took a direct hit. Black _stuff_ spurted from the wound on one of his arms. Izzy looked distraught. Under his shirt a purple trapezium began to glow and his digivice began to whistle again. "Kabuterimon digivolve to MegaKabuterimon."

Joe moved to Izzy's side. "Feeling better?"

Izzy winced as one of the X-wings narrowly missed shooting his digimon. "Princess Leia, tell them MegaKabuterimon is on our side before they hurt him!" Princess Leia nodded and pulled out her commlink. Izzy turned to Joe. "I feel fine. Better that fine really, like a huge weight has been removed."

Feona took her eyes off the sky. "I know why. It all makes sense now."

"Excuse me," interrupted Doyle. "But this is neither the time, nor the place to discuss this." He ducked as a laser bolt from one of the X-wings passed overhead. Standing back up, he shaded his eyes and watched as in the distance Birdramon and Metalmeramon faced off. The bird digimon shrieked as the flaming giant struck a direct hit.

Sora's digivice lit up the same way as the others and a red trapezium glowed under her shirt. In the distance Birdramon was replaced by a bird-woman. Together she and MegaKabuterimon advanced on the fire digimon. The two separate attacks from the digimon caused Metalmeramon to dissolve into fine black dust. Instantly the other digimon fighting against the children's digimon retreated and left.

"Well," said Leia, pushing loose strands of her hair back over her ears. "It appears we have a lot to discuss." She watched as the digimon returned to their partners, shrinking back to smaller forms. She moved back to the lift, followed by a subdued Tai, Sora and Izzy all clutching small pink digimon.

Leia sighed as she sank into the chairs of her private apartment. She had decided that now was not the right time to discuss this. The children had all been shaken by what had happened. She had got palace staff to give them and the two traders a suite in the palace. She had then had an exhausting discussion with Wedge to discover that the X-wing's lasers had been mere annoyances to the other digimon. The only positive result had been Wedge's hit with a proton torpedo at point blank range, which had been more luck than anything else as the sensor package of the targeting system could not classify the digimon as targets. She sighed and set the computer on a search through the pre-Clone War records for a mention of seven jedi-children in myth and legend. She then stretched and moved into the bathroom to try to unwind a little before dealing with the children again.

Tai walked in the door. "This is too cool!" He spun slowly on his heel surveying the room.

"Hey Tai, we'd love to agree with you, but some big-haired idiot is blocking the door!" joked Matt. Tai blushed and moved to one side. The other Digidestined filed in and looked around.

Feona whistled appreciatively. "Leia must like us a lot. This is a top class apartment."

"But it's so small," protested T.K.

Doyle smiled. "Coruscant is like Tokyo in that respect. It's so overcrowded that space is at a premium." He sat down in one of the comfy chairs and stretched like a cat.

Sora climbed the stairs at the back of the suite. "Hey, there's three rooms up here. Two bedrooms and a bathroom." She moved further into one of the bedrooms. "Hey, this one has six beds and a lot of men's clothes in." She moved to the other, smaller bedroom. "This must be ours. It only has three beds and there's lots of girls clothes in the closet."

"Oooo, new clothes!" Mimi was up the stairs like a shot.

Doyle put his hands up in surrender. "I'll go out to the ship and get our stuff."

Feona smiled appreciatively. "Thanks Doyle."

"Oh don't thank me." Doyle smiled wanly. "You get the pleasure of working out what to feed this lot."

"Food?" piped up Gomamon. "You've got food here?"

Feona sighed and moved into the kitchenette that ran down the side of the apartment.

Later that evening things reached a head. After much discussion all the children had changed their clothes to something more appropriate. Tai now wore a wrap around robe in light blue over dark blue trousers. Sora had opted for red leggings and a pink shirt, which she wore with the collar unbuttoned. Mimi had found a pink dress, but one that followed the robes of a senator's formal garb than the more practical outfits the others had chosen. Matt now looked stunning in black trousers, knee boots and jacket slung over a deep green shirt. T.K. had opted for green as well, but he has chosen a smock like robe, tied with a yellow strip of material and yellow undertrousers. Joe wore the same that a businessman might, blue pants and jacket over a white shirt. Izzy was wearing a green shirt over which he wore his old orange shirt as a jacket, and long blue trousers.

Tai sat with his knees under his chin, thinking. The others watched both him and Izzy nervously as the magnitude of what they had done during the fight had sunk in.

__

What did I do? wondered Tai. _I didn't even know I had moved to catch that damned needle._ Sora moved closer to him and put a hand on his knee. Tai smiled at her gratefully. "I don't know why you'd want to touch a freak like me."

"We freaks have to stick together." Sora smiled a sad smile. "Besides Izzy's too busy denying to accept what happened."

Izzy landed a hard whack on the side of the room's computer terminal. "Dumb machine."

Doyle sitting next to him laughed. "You're just typing gibberish, that's all." He reached over and typed the correct command. 

Izzy blushed. "Thanks." He bent back over the keyboard typing furiously.

Sora turned back to Tai. "You think he could fry us?"

"Not a chance" blustered Tai. But he still looked worried.

Feona leaned forwards. "We really should talk about this all together."

Joe huffed. "How do we know he won't fry us all?"

"He can't," consoled Feona. None of the others looked convinced.

"Prodigious!" exclaimed Izzy. All the others turned to face him. "Sorry." His face turned bright red. "I just finished a program to translate written Basic into Japanese." He waved his hand at his laptop, which was currently festooned with wires. "I realised that there must be a technological reason for the translation so I looked for something we all share." Izzy pointed at his laptop. "Our digivices." Sure enough, on top of the mess of wires lay his digivice, also carefully festooned with wires. "Our digivices are the reason that everything has been translated for us. With some careful work I have created a translation program on my computer."

Matt leant back and stared at the ceiling. "That's great Izzy. Of course the fact that we have two people living with us that can already read it makes your program totally redundant."

"I was only trying to help," muttered Izzy.

Matt wasn't finished however. "That is possibly the most useless thing you have ever done. No, wait. You searching after Genai instead of helping us look for Tai, that was your lowest moment." Matt chuckled. "You're so absorbed looking for scientific answers that you forget the rest of us. That's low Izzy, even for you."

Izzy clenched his fists. "At least I tried. And when was the last time you saved us with your quick wits Matt?" Izzy made great show of thinking. "Oh, wait I know. NEVER!"

"At least I'm not a freak!"

T.K. pulled at Matt's sleeve. "Please don't yell at Izzy, Matt."

"Don't you see? He could kill us all!" Matt was now on his feet, glaring at the smaller boy.

Tai got up and stood between them. "Back down Matt." Tai tried to keep his voice level.

Izzy was really getting annoyed. "Do you know how hard it is for me? DO YOU? I don't know what happened or why. And even if I did you lot are probably too dumb to understand."

"Hey!" Matt launched himself past Tai, at Izzy. He knocked the smaller boy over and pinned him down. "You think you're so smart!" He grabbed Izzy's collar and started to bang Izzy's head against the floor repeatedly. "You know nothing! You hear me? NOTHING! All you care about is that dumb box!"

The rest of the group watched in horror. Izzy's eyes rolled back, but still Matt continued.

Eventually Sora found her voice. "Matt, stop. Please."

Matt suddenly stopped, as if his rational mind had just started to work again. He still had Izzy's collar in his hands. "But he's dangerous. A freak."

Sora shook her head sadly. _But so am I Matt_, rang gently in his head.

Matt dropped Izzy in shock. "No," he whispered. He grabbed his jacket and ran out the door. Gabumon trailed after him.

Doyle and Feona shared a meaningful glance, then Doyle grabbed his jacket and followed them out. Feona sighed and carefully picked up Izzy.

"Will he be alright?" asked Motimon.

Feona silently took him upstairs followed by Tai and Sora. She took him to the boy's room and carefully laid him on a bed. "Sora, could you…?"

Sora nodded and sat by Izzy, placing one hand on his forehead.

"I can't believe he did that," exclaimed Tai. "I never though Matt could snap like that."

Sora stood up. "I've been noticing him building up to something like that for quite some time." She looked back at Izzy. "He's not badly hurt. He'll just have a headache when he wakes up I think."

Tai turned to Sora. "How did you know that?"

Sora blushed. "I can read minds Tai. I have been able to for quite a while."

Now it was Tai's turn to blush. "You haven't read my mind have you?"

Sora laughed lightly. "Don't worry. I don't read any of your minds very deeply, just surface impressions mostly." She turned to Feona. "But how did you know?"

"I heard you talk to Matt." She saw Sora's confusion. "Jedi, remember? It's not my forte, but considering you were practically shouting it was very hard to miss." She led them back downstairs.

The rest of the children had all found something about their shoes intensely fascinating.

Tai turned to Feona. "It's about time someone explained all this freaky stuff to us." Feona nodded in agreement and began.


	6. A Quiet Night In...Or a Busy Night Out?

Sora carefully put the glass of what Feona had termed nerf milk in front of T

Sora carefully put the glass of what Feona had termed _nerf milk_ in front of T.K. The boy smiled and quickly wolfed down the contents.

"Thank you Sora."

Yokomon, Koromon and the other digimon had already fallen asleep on the sofa. Mimi was carefully lying blankets over them. T.K. yawned.

"You should really go to bed T.K." admonished Sora.

T.K. shook his head, partly in protest, partly in an attempt to wake up. "Nuh uh. Not until Matt comes back."

Feona drained the last of the liquid from her mug. "Okay, who wants more caf?" Tai, Sora and Joe raised their hands. Feona busied herself with the peculator.

"I still don't see why you think we're jedi," complained Tai, stretching. "Everything we've done so far is coincidence."

Feona snorted. "Yeah. Doyle has a vision of jedi from another world, then you guys show up. Izzy throw lightning, Sora reads minds and you yourself have been shown to have a greater awareness of your surroundings than most people." She placed four mugs of steaming liquid on the table. "You're absolutely right. Nothing but coincidence and wishful thinking." She sat back down and put her feet on the table.

Tai glared at her. "You know, sarcasm is very unbecoming in you."

Feona mimed a salute. "Thank you."

Joe inhaled deeply over his mug. "Why my parents never let me drink coffee is beyond me." He took a sip. "What about the rest of us? Are we going to do something just as weird?"

Feona shrugged. "Don't know."

Sora cupped her hands around her own mug. "How did it happen for you?"

"I'm not the best example to follow," mumbled Feona into her mug.

"Well I've had it," said Mimi. "Some of us need beauty sleep you know." She started to climb the stairs. "'Night everyone." She got half way up to find someone blocking her path. "Izzy! You're awake."

Izzy nodded gingerly and moved back up the stairs to let Mimi past. As she past him she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good night Izzy."

Izzy again descended the stairs. "Hey guys."

"Hey Izzy," called Tai. He waved for the small boy to join them. "Feeling better?"

"Much," agreed Izzy. "I still wish I knew what happened though."

"It's rather simple actually." Feona took her feet off the table and sat properly. "Remember back when you first arrived and you were shot by the Imps?" She got nods from all around the table. "Remember Izzy was faking, even though Gomamon had seen him being hit? What happened was that he absorbed some of the energy from the blast. But he didn't know what to do with it. So the energy started to overheat his body and make him sick."

Izzy nodded. "That theory fits with what happened."

"But how did he do it?" asked Sora.

"It's like you and Tai," guessed Joe. "If it comes to the crunch instinct takes over. That's why he absorbed the hit, but didn't lose the energy, right?" He looked at Feona for vindication.

She nodded. "More or less correct. The Force isn't an exact science."

T.K. yawned again. "So we have these really crazy magical powers? All of us?"

"I'd say that's a given. You make your digimon, what was it, digivolve?" Feona cleared up T.K.'s glass. "You should really go to bed. Matt will come back when he's ready."

Sora stood up. "I'm going to bed too. Call me if anything happens with Matt." Together Sora and T.K. headed upstairs.

Joe sighed. "I'm going too." He followed the others upstairs leaving Tai, Izzy and Feona sat round the table.

"What now?" asked Tai after a few moments silence. "Do we attack Myotismon? Or bide our time with you doing nothing?"

Izzy considered this. "We should learn more about this Force if there is such a thing. Only then can we guess at the current state of affairs."

"Oh the Force exists." Feona sat back down. "Too many jedi have existed to deny it."

Tai decided to lighten the mood and gave a sly grin. "So how would you feel about going out with me?" he asked jokingly.

"Wrong age," replied Feona with a twinkle in her eye. "Izzy's a possibility though."

"What?" Both Tai and Izzy were confused.

Feona mimed zipping her mouth shut. "I'm not telling." Suddenly she laughed out loud. "It's been a long time since I've mucked around with kids close to my own age."

Both Tai and Izzy looked worried. Finally Izzy spoke up. "Are you alright?"

Feona sobered up a little. "Sorry. I never had much of a childhood. I had to grow up pretty fast." Her commlink started to beep. She pulled it off her belt. "Doyle?"

"_We've got trouble. I'm in the hospital. Matt's in the bacta._"

Doyle had been tailing Matt for about an hour when Gabumon decided to speak up.

"Why Matt?"

Matt turned and slammed his fist into one of the alleys permacrete walls. "I don't know. I just snapped." He shook his fist to dispel the tingle left by the impact with the wall. "It's all to much Gabumon. First we're sucked into your world where we have all these responsibilities thrust on us, and now I'm in this weird world that looks like some really old science fiction movie being told that I have to save this world too and on top of that I've got some really freaky 'powers' that I'm supposed to learn to use." He sighed. "And all I really wanted to do was go to summer camp with my little brother." He kept wandering, moving deeper and deeper into the city and into thought.

__

This whole situation is just screwy. It can't be happening. I'm passed out, that's it. I hit my head or in a coma, or dreaming or something. Matt put his hand into his pocket and placed his hand around his harmonica. _This is the only thing that stands between me and madness. I don't know what's real anymore. Is this real? Or this something I always wanted and my brain decided to provide in some sort of twisted way. _He sighed_. I always wanted to be different, to contribute something. To show Mum and T.K. that I'm someone worth their love. But I'm not. I just attacked one of my best friends, someone who's feeling every bit as confused as I am. Why is it I seem to burn as many bridges as I build?_

And why the hell did I call him Freak? Great going Matt, now they all hate me for what I said. How could I say that after Feona has tried to help us? Or after Tai saved Leia? Or after Izzy chased off Demidevimon? Or after Sora helped Mimi back at the Gekomons' castle? We're all freaks, every one of us. How would people react to us if we went home with our digimon in tow? Matt humphed. _Probably call us freaks. Probe us, dissect us, and stick us in little jars…_ He shook his head sadly. _No, we became outsiders long ago. It's just I'm the outsider of the outsiders._

But why can't I be the outsider? Why do I have to follow Tai, or listen to Izzy's suggestions? I can be just fine on my own. I know what's best for me and T.K. Tai just has to accept he can't push me around like the others. I deserve to have a voice in decisions.

I'm not even making sense to me anymore….

Doyle started to worry. Like all worlds Coruscant had its good areas and its bad areas. It was a general rule of thumb that the deeper you went into Coruscant, the seedier the surroundings got. Matt had long since passed areas were even Doyle with his less than honest background would be content.

Gabumon watched the area carefully. He knew full well that Doyle was following them, due to the human's peculiar scent, but he could pick up others moving along with them. "Matt? Maybe we should turn back."

Matt seemed to take note of his surroundings for the first time. "Wow it's dark round here." He turned in a small circle. "I agree we should get back, the question is how?"

Doyle stepped out from the shadows. "Maybe I can help."

Matt was furious. "You were following me? How could you?"

Doyle raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm just watching your back, that's all. This isn't a very good neighbourhood." His eyes darted too and fro. "We really should be leaving." Matt nodded and moved towards him.

"Oh you're not going anywhere." Part of the shadows along one wall detached and turned into a Rodian holding a club. "You humans should know better than to come down here where you're not wanted." Behind him another Rodian, a Tunroth and a Quarren moved out of the shadows, each holding a different sharp implement.

"We…We were just leaving, weren't we lad?" Doyle put his arm over Matt's shoulder and started to steer him away.

"Oh no." The Quarren's tentacles wound and unwound themselves fretfully. "You came into a place where you're not wanted. You should be punished." He advanced on them, knife in hand.

The Rodian clicked away in its own language. Matt receiving the translation via his digivice paled. "We _really_ should get out of here Gabumon, Doyle."

"You don't have a choice human," sneered the Tunroth. "None of your kind walks onto our turf and walks away again." He eyed the digivice that Matt had on his belt and the cord of his tag visible over his collar. "Especially when they have stuff we can sell to the Jawas." The foursome advanced on them.

"_Blue blaster!_" The bolt from Gabumon missed as the aliens dodged.

"Nice try," consoled the Tunroth. It pulled a blaster and pointed it at them. "Try anything else and they'll never find your corpses. Now hand over that electronic gizmo on your waist and the jewellery."

Matt's cry of "Never!" was drowned out by Gabumon cry of "Gabumon digivolve to Garurumon!"

The Tunroth took one look at Garurumon and fired. The laser bolt tore across the wolf digimon's flank. The other aliens drew their blasters and opened fire. Garurumon howled and crashed to the ground. The shooters then turned their attention on Matt and Doyle.

Doyle, seeing them turning his way, rolled out of the way and behind the cover of a large pile of trash in the dark alley. Matt wasn't quite fast enough and took hits to this shoulder and thigh. He clenched his teeth to prevent himself from screaming as he fell to the floor.

"Matt…" moaned Garurumon, tottering to his feet. "No! Garurumon digivolve to WereGarurumon!" Still woozy from the blaster hits, WereGarurumon could do little else than intimidate the aliens. The Quarren and the non-Basic speaking Rodian fled in terror. The Tunroth and the other Rodian were made of sterner stuff. The Tunroth fired continuously at WereGarurumon, causing the digimon to stumble. The other Rodian advanced on Matt. He lined up for a shot to Matt's head. "This'll teach you humans to stay out of our affairs." Doyle leapt out and tackled him, causing the shot to go wide and score across Matt's stomach. This time the boy did scream.

Doyle stood facing the Rodian, his now red eyes glowing eerily in the darkness. "I suggest you leave us alone." He swung his own blaster up to aim at the alien. "You don't want to mess with us _humans_," he sneered. He advanced until the dim light picked up his decidedly inhuman face. The Rodian let out his races' version of a gasp and ran. Doyle spun to face the Tunroth that was still letting WereGarurumon have it. He raised his blaster and aimed a foot to the right of the Tunroth. He fired, taking a chip out of the wall, then moved his aim directly to the Tunroth's head. "Why don't you leave like a good little piece of scum?" The Tunroth tried to bring his blaster to bear but Doyle stunned him before he could pull the trigger. "Gotta love that toggle switch."

He quickly holstered his blaster and moved to Matt's side. "Matt?"

Matt coughed weakly, spraying small red flecks from his mouth. "Who the hell are you? And where's Gabumon?"

A battered Tsunomon hopped up beside him. "Right here Matt. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Tsunomon," sighed Matt contentedly. "You're okay."

Doyle looked at the gaping wound in Matt's stomach. "But you're not kid. We've got to get you to a hospital." He laid his coat over the boy, then carefully slipped his arms under Matt's knees and supported his shoulders. "What ever you are now Gabumon, you'll have to either ride on my shoulder or walk."

Tsunomon eyes the spikes. "I'd rather walk…Doyle?" he guessed.

Doyle carefully lifted Matt. The blonde whimpered. "Yeah, I'm Doyle." He started to walk briskly.

Tsunomon bounced alongside him. "I knew you smelt funny for a human. What are you?"

Doyle nervously eyed the blood starting to seep through his jacket. "I think we should concentrate on Matt for now."

After about five minutes later Tsunomon and Doyle ran into a hospital emergency centre with a barely alive Matt.

Doyle looked around for a twoone-bee. "Help! I've got a boy here with severe blaster wounds!"

Two men came up with a trolley bed. "Put him down on this," said one of them.

Doyle complied. He followed behind them as they wheeled Matt into the medical bay. Tsunomon hopped up into his arms.

"Will Matt be okay Doyle?"

Doyle looked down at the fuzzy orange digimon. "I don't know…er…"

"Tsunomon. And I hope so."

Doyle nodded at took out his commlink. He thumbed it on. "Feona?"

"_Doyle?_" Feona's response was quick. Doyle decided she was probably waiting for him to return with Matt.

"We've got trouble. I'm at the hospital." His sensitive hearing picked up the sharp intake of breath at the other end. "Matt's in the bacta. He was injured in a lightfight." He sketched out the details quickly and gave her the name of the hospital.

"_Be there as soon as we can._" She signed off.


	7. Sent on Their Way

Feona thumbed off her commlink

Feona thumbed off her commlink. Around the table Tai and Izzy stared at her. Finally Tai broke the silence. "Matt's been injured?"

Feona nodded. "Go wake the other boys. I'll fetch Sora and Mimi. Izzy, you take the digimon." They both moved upstairs.

Feona leant over Sora. "Sora, wake up!"

Sora blinked a few times. "What? I only put my head down a moment ago."

"Matt's been hurt. Get dressed." She moved to Mimi's side. "Come on you, wake up!"

Mimi pulled the blanket over her head. "Go away!"

Feona looked over at Sora. "Can you try? I have things to organise." Sora nodded.

Feona went back downstairs and switched on the computer. "Izzy! Can you unplug all this stuff?"

Izzy looked up from his task. "Why?"

"I need to make a phone call." Izzy walked over and deftly pulled out a connecting wire. "Thanks." Feona punched in the code for Leia's apartments in the palace. She got a pre-recorded message and the option to leave a message of her own. She outlined what had happened and where they were going quickly, then hung up and went back upstairs.

Tai walked over to Joe's bed. "Wake up Joe."

Joe rolled over and put his glasses back on. "What is it Tai?"

"Matt's been hurt."

T.K. sat up suddenly behind them. "Matt's hurt?" His large blue eyes started to well up with tears. "What happened to him?"

Tai came over and sat on the bed. "He got into a fight or something. You'd have to ask Feona. She's going to take us to the hospital."

T.K. started to wail. "Why Matt? Why couldn't you just stay here where it's safe? Why did you have to go off and leave me here?"

Sora hurried in, still doing up the last few buttons of her shirt. "It's okay T.K. He's going to be fine." She traded places with Tai and hugged the smaller boy, rubbing her hand in a comforting manner up and down his back.

T.K. looked up at her. "You really think so Sora?"

"Sure T.K."

A shrill whistle came from downstairs. "Will you guys hurry up?" called out Feona. "We need to get going."

Tai noticed that T.K. kept close by him as they walked through the hospital. _Poor T.K. He only just got Matt back, and now it seems like he's gone again._ Tai followed Feona as she led them through the corridors. She pushed open a pair of double doors and waved them inside.

Inside Tai was surprised to find that instead of lying on a bed with electrodes attached to him, Matt was floating in a tank filled with a cloudy, green tinted liquid.

"Matt," breathed T.K. The young boy ran to the tank and placed his hands against the clear walls. "Matt, say something. Anything." T.K.'s blue eyes welled with tears.

Sora moved besides the small boy. "Don't worry T.K. I'm sure Matt will be all right."

Feona leant against the far wall. Matt seemed fine.

Doyle once again seemed to read her thoughts. "But how will he react when he wakes up?"

Feona smiled. "If you can do that, maybe we should spend some time apart."

Doyle shrugged. "What for? If you can't trust I know what you're thinking how will you trust I'll save your arse when times get rough?"

Feona laughed. "That's true." She turned to face him. "I take what ever happened was fairly major considering…" She gestured at her face.

Doyle nodded. "Anti-human aliens. I hit Matt with a flying tackle, but I wasn't quite fast enough." He looked at the floor. "This seemed like the fastest way to get rid of them." He smiled a smile with no warmth behind it. "Glowing eyes from a spiked face monster tend to un-nerve everyone."

"Not me," said Feona, smiling as genuinely as she could.

Doyle smiled back. "Thanks lass."

"That's Doyle?" asked Izzy in a quivering voice.

Feona turned to see the young boy standing almost directly behind her, using her body to shield himself from Doyle's view. She looked back at Doyle who nodded slowly. She took a deep breath. "Yes that's Doyle."

The boy's eyes took on a sheen of intense interest. "What is he?" He moved closer. "Do those spines hurt? What are they made of? How do your eyes glow, is it some sort of chemical phosphorescence?"

"Not so many questions at once Izzy," cautioned Feona.

"He's just curious." Doyle knelt down so he was on a level with the boy. "Look kid. I know you've got questions bouncing around in that head of yours, but now is not the time." He looked up at Feona. "I can't let Cracken find out about this." His gaze returned to Izzy. "I will explain, but the intensive care ward of a hospital is not the place to do it."

Izzy nodded. "Okay. But I won't rest until you tell me."

"Atta boy." Doyle ruffled Izzy's hair. Izzy looked extremely miffed. Doyle stood back up. "T.K.?"

The blonde did not take his eyes off Matt. "Yeah?"

"The doctors say he'll be alright in a day or too. The blaster did some damage to his gut."

T.K. kept staring into the tank. "Can he hear me?"

Sora wrapped an arm around him. "I'm sorry T.K., but he's not awake. He doesn't even know we're here."

"Matt," whispered the boy. "Please come back. I need you big brother."

It pained Feona to watch them all. She could feel T.K. reaching through the Force for his brother in a wild, uncontrolled way. _I wish I had family who cared about me one tenth as much as T.K. cares for Matt._ She walked over to them. "He's okay. The bacta will heal him in no time."

"Is that what this stuff is? Bacta?" asked Joe. "Cause I never heard that submersing a critically injured person could help."

"It's…. um…you know I have no idea what it is exactly." Doyle scratched his head. "Feona?"

"It's some sort of organic compound that promotes healing." Feona shrugged. "Biology isn't really my forte."

"Huh." Joe walked around the equipment. "So how does it work?"

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," muttered Doyle.

Sora was dozing in a chair in the hospital room when she felt Matt start to wake up. She reached out to him the same way that she had reached out to Mimi back in the Gekomons' castle. _Matt? Can you hear me?_

Sora? Matt's internal voice carried a note of confusion. _What's going on? Where am I?_

Don't you remember? asked Sora. _You were attacked after you stormed out. _She could feel Matt starting to come to full consciousness. _Matt listen to me. When you wake up you're going to be in a very weird place, but it's all right. We're all here._

Her words fell on deaf ears as Matt started to thrash in the tank. The noise brought T.K. awake and to his brothers side. "Please Matt, don't cause trouble."

Several medics ran in. "What is going on here?" asked one of them. Sora pointed mutely to the thrashing Matt. The medic nodded and together the group pulled the boy out of the tank.

"Let me go!" Matt's eyes were wide with fright as he was hauled out of the tank. "Let me go!" He struggled against the medics causing them to lose their grip on his arms. He fell from the top of the tank to the ground. 

"Matt! Are you okay?" T.K. was at his side in a second, with Sora not far behind.

"What's going on? What is that stuff they had me in?" Matt pushed his hair out of his eyes.

Sora tried to soothe him. "Don't worry. It made you better after you were shot, that's all."

"So first I'm shot, attacked by some monster, then half drowned. Oh yeah that makes sense." Matt shivered.

T.K. put his arms around Matt. "It's okay Matt. The stuff was just to make you feel better."

Matt gingerly picked himself up off the floor. The orderlies ran up to him with a hose. "What? I get to be hosed down too? This just isn't my lucky day."

Doyle's voice came from the back. "Standard procedure. They need to recycle the bacta for use on someone else."

T.K.'s nose wrinkled. "Ewww, that's disgusting."

"But necessary. This stuff doesn't grow on trees……I think." Doyle shrugged. "Besides, Councillor Organa-Solo wants to talk to you together later today, so we need to get moving."

All the kids were relieved to see Matt back at the apartment. Tsunomon hopped up right away. Matt smiled and picked him up. "Thanks for the save back in the alley, Tsuno."

"No problem Matt," grinned the digimon. "That's what I'm here for."

"Good to see you back on your feet buddy." Tai slapped Matt on the back, then frowned. "You know storming off like that was pretty dumb."

"Tell me about it," retorted Matt. "I can be such an idiot some times."

Mimi smiled and hugged him. "But we forgive you anyway."

Doyle coughed. "Matt, you need to get yourself cleaned up. We've got a briefing with Councillor Organa-Solo and General Antilles in an hour."

"Right." Matt bent and put Tsunomon down on the ground. "I'll be right back."

The children and digimon watched him climb up the stairs.

Izzy was the first to break the silence. "Well he looks okay to me."

Joe shook his head. "Looks can be deceiving Izzy. After a major trauma like that Matt will have some issues to work out." The oldest Digidestined frowned. "Something _feels _wrong about this. Like a thunderstorm is coming." He rubbed his arms. "I don't like this."

Sora nodded. "I don't like it either. It's like Matt is running scared in his own mind."

Tai looked from Joe to Sora. "Will you two stop with the ominous warnings? Matt is fine." He puffed his chest out. "I can tell at a glance what people are feeling. I'm a great judge of character."

"Maybe," conceded Joe.

"Enough with the depression already guys, you're making me want to hurl myself off the roof," complained Gomamon.

"And we wouldn't want that to happen," muttered Joe.

The briefing room was really too large for the group. Their footsteps echoed as they crossed the floor to the table where Leia and Wedge sat. The children, digimon and traders took their seats and waited for the general to begin.

"This is some of the footage we've managed to salvage from the gun cameras on the X-wings." The general flicked on a holoprojector in the centre of the table. "We are at a loss to explain any of this, and we were hoping you kids could help."

The children exchanged glances between themselves. Finally Mimi spoke up. "I vote Izzy gets to tell them."

"Why me?" asked Izzy. "Tai's the leader. Plus surely the Digimon themselves would be better able to explain all of this."

"Don't bring us into this," warned Gomamon. "This is human stuff. Nothing to do with us."

"Gomamon!" scolded Joe. "That's no way to talk to these people who've been nice enough to let us stay here."

Leia grinned as she heard Wedge mutter "I could've stayed with Janson, but no………" She decided to impose order on the now fighting group. "Why don't we ask some questions, and you all try to answer them?"

Izzy and Tai exchanged looks. "Okay," conceded Tai.

Wedge looked at his datapad. "To start with. Why do you all have these 'Digimon' following you around?"

Tai shrugged. "We don't know. They don't know. It's something to do with us being the 'Digidestined'."

"Right," continued Izzy. "We were chosen by someone or something to protect the digital world from the evil digimon."

"And what then does this have to do with you having digimon?" asked Leia.

"Well you see, we can't fight against the digimon ourselves, so we use proxies instead," explained Izzy.

"Okay, I can accept that." Wedge checked his datapad again. "So what is with the glowing that Leia reported? And the glowing squares and those funny devices lighting up?"

Everyone looked at Izzy. He looked back. "Why should I tell?"

Sora shrugged. "You figured it out."

Izzy sighed in defeat. "Okay." He unclipped his digivice from his waist and showed it to the adults. "This is a digivice. It serves as an energy conduit between our partner digimon and ourselves. Our digimon can use the energy borrowed from us to 'digivolve' to the next level of development for a short period of time. The process of digivolving radically changes their body structure and is usually accompanied with an increase in mass. Once they run out of energy they dedigivolve back to their original level, although in extreme cases of using more energy than they gained, they would return to an even lower level." He pulled out his tag and crest from beneath his shirt. "These crests act as catalysts for a further digivolve. They can only become active after the specific trait they engender is apparent in the owner. They also cause our digivices to glow the same colour and shake."

"Now here's the important one." Wedge leaned forwards. "Why were they after Leia?"

Tai spoke first. "No idea. It's not their usual style to go after bystanders, just us." He looked at Agumon. "Any ideas?"

"Not one. If Myotismon was behind the attack I can't see what he'd get out of killing her."

Motimon spoke up. "Maybe Myotismon isn't behind it. He wasn't there when they went after her."

Tai shook his head. "It was Demidevimon, he was the one who attacked Leia. He wouldn't risk crossing Myotismon by joining someone else."

Wedge frowned. "In your opinion, is the only reason any of this happened was because you were present?"

Izzy nodded. "It seems reasonable. I can't believe that Myotismon has any designs on your government."

Leia nodded. "I agree with your reasoning." She looked at Wedge, who nodded his agreement. "Well with us all agreed that I'm not the target of Myotismon's attacks, the only thing that remains is to decide what it is that you must do now."

"Yavin IV." Everyone turned to look at Doyle. "What? That's where they need to be sent."

Feona rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Just don't ask. Please."

Wedge sighed. "Okay, I won't. Too many crazy things have gone on today starting with monsters, ending with vague instructions from weird people."

"So they go to Yavin. Then what?" Leia looked at Doyle.

Doyle shook his head. "No idea. All I know is that there is some prophesy about them somewhere. Something about "the seven jedi who will stop the darkness."" He got up. "But that's you're business, not mine. I've delivered the message, and now, I'm going."

"As am I." Feona got up. "I have a business to run and fun though this is, I can't afford to let my ship gather dust in some bay, collecting docking fees."

"But you could be an asset," countered Leia. "You could go to Yavin and train with the other Jedi candidates."

"Forget it. I know what I'm doing already." Feona passed a piece of flimsy to Tai. "Here. You need me, you call, okay?"

Tai turned it over in his hands. "What is it?"

"Personal commlink frequency." She looked around the group. "Good luck at Yavin." Then she and Doyle walked out the door.

Leia sighed. "Pity. We need all the help we can get." She looked at the kids. "You okay with going to Yavin?"

"We would," replied Tai, "if we had any idea what Yavin was."

"It's a training centre for Jedi like yourself. My brother, Luke runs it." Leia got up. "I think it would be best if you went. You've already shown that you have capability with the Force, why not learn to use it properly?"

Tai took a silent poll round the group. He could see no objections in the others eyes. "So when do we leave?"

Leia smiled. "Tomorrow. My husband is making a supply run. He'll take you." She motioned for them to follow her. "I have a gift for you all for defending the city."

Mimi perked up. "A gift? As in present?"

Leia led them into a set of rooms. She motioned for them to sit on the couch. "Wait there." She moved into another room and returned with a pile of clothes.

"Oooooooooooo, clothes!" cooed Mimi.

Leia put them down. "I had these made this afternoon. They're Jedi robes." She passed them out. Each set matched their owners crests colour.

"Ew…green," complained Mimi.

Izzy turned his from side to side. "I don't think purple is my colour."

Leia shrugged. "Prophesy says that you wear these. And 'Brandish lightsabers of pure flame' but I think that bit is hyperbole."

"Looks like we're on our way to Yavin then," commented Tai.

Myotismon looked on in his scrying crystal. "Yes. Come to Yavin, meet your destiny."

He felt Exar Kun drift up behind him. _And then, you will die._

Authors Notes-

Phew, finished at last. This is what happens when your computer crashes several times, wiping the chapter each time.

So, on to business. Two things

  1. I am taking requests for Star Wars characters that appear in the books and the movies to appear in this. I have only one stipulation, they must be ALIVE during the Jedi Academy Trilogy. All you have to do is write a review and I will try to put your favourite character in.

2. Since I suck at drawing, I'm looking for a fan artist to draw the Jedi-Destined. I will run this as a competition and will give a prize to the best one. Contact me at fiona_izumi_burch@hotmail.com for further details if you are interested.


	8. Arrival at the Jedi Temple

The kids piled into the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon as it pulled away from Coruscant

The kids piled into the cockpit of the _Millennium Falcon_ as it pulled away from Coruscant. "It's so pretty," cooed Mimi. "All those lights." 

Han made a noncommittal grunt. "I suppose it's all right." He checked his instruments. "We're coming up on our hyperspace point. You better strap in."  
The children left the cockpit and moved to the lounge area, strapping themselves in. After a while the _Falcon _smoothed its flight and the children started to move around again.

"I wonder what this Yavin will be like?" mused Sora out loud.

"No plants that I'll be allergic to, I hope," commented Joe.

Izzy flipped on his laptop and ran a cable to the datapad that Leia had given them. He engaged the translation program and skimmed thought the information. "The academy is on one of the moons of the gas giant, Yavin. Its climate is similar to Earth's tropical rainforest." He scrolled down a bit. "Rains in the early morning, humid the rest of the time."

Mimi rubbed her arms. "Please don't tell me we have to keep wearing these ugly, baggy…."

"We do," interrupted Tai. "Everyone there wears these things, so don't fuss Mimi."

Matt sighed. "I don't mind these things so much, but there is something disturbing about Tai in orange." He gestured at Tai's head. "Especially since he's still wearing that blue head band with his goggles."

Tai stuck his tongue out at Matt. "Just cause you got a colour that suits you."

"Hey, at least you didn't get lemon yellow," consoled Sora.

T.K. nodded. "Yeah, I feel like a custard tart."

The landing ramp of the _Falcon _dropped, letting in the damp air of Yavin. The children and their now all rookie level digimon carefully looked out. Behind then Han laughed. "It's just a jungle kids. It can't hurt you."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "You'd be surprised." The children picked up their meagre belongings and moved towards the group waiting at the base of the temple.

At the base of the temple three figures waited. One wore robes that were a vibrant shade of green like Mimi's, the other two wore black. Tai studied them carefully. Out of the two figures in black one wore his hood up, despite the fact that it must have been uncomfortable in the heat. The other two despite both being blonde were both very different. The one in black had short hair and loomed above his fellows. The one in green was shorter and sported a beard and platinum blonde hair.

As the children approached they as one allowed Tai to the front, Agumon glued to his side as always. The hooded figure stepped forwards and spoke.

"You were sent by my sister? But you are children."

Tai's eyes narrowed. "We have faced more than most adults. Don't tell us that we're just children."

"I meant no disrespect." He figure lifted the hood of his cloak to reveal another blonde. Sora could see deep lines carved into his face by worry and doubt. "I am Luke Skywalker. This is my academy." He gestured at the other two men. "These men will help you to catch up to the rest of the class as well as the lessons I will give."

"Not more school," complained Mimi.

Luke smiled. "You will find that we lead very unstructured lives here." He gestured at the temple behind him. "In the meantime you may choose any of the chambers in the temple as your own room. Keiran will help you. After you have settled he will begin your training as my sister suggested that time was of the essence."

Tai nodded and motioned for the others to pick up their bags. Together the children and their digimon trailed into the temple.

"There are three levels set up with quarters," explained Keiran. "You may choose any room set up with cots as long as they are empty. When you feel ready come to the meal hall on the third floor of the temple for the mid-day meal. You can bring your pets with you."

They watched him leave.

"Who's he calling pets?" asked Gabumon. "I'm not a pet am I Matt?"

"Not…really." Matt turned in a circle on his heel. "So where do we want to sleep? Cause I vote we stick together until Myotismon makes his move."

T.K. looked up at his big brother. "You really think he'll try to hurt us here Matt?"

Matt nodded. "Why would he not? It's not as if we're well defended here." He stuck his head into a room. "Hey guys! This room is pretty big. It's only got three beds though."

Joe stuck his head out of another room. "Well this one and the next one has two. I vote we use all three."

"Seconded," agreed Izzy. "This way we can all stay close together and the room is large enough for us all to stay in and talk in private if we need to."

"I have another idea," said Tai. "Let's keep the digimon secret."

Sora looked puzzled. "But Tai, we can hardly pretend that they're stuffed animals."

"Pets." Everyone turned to Matt. "What? All I'm saying is lets just say that they're pets. Not intelligent. Everyone back on Earth has one, like a cat or a dog. They won't know the difference."

Izzy nodded. "I concur. All the information they have about our world comes from us. They have no way of telling that it is false if we all say the same thing."

"Right," said Tai. He turned to the Digimon. "Can you guys manage not to talk in front of these Jedi?"

"Sure," agreed Patamon. "It'll be like playing a game no one else is." He and T.K. laughed.

In the end Joe and Izzy took the room with two beds, while Tai, Matt and T.K. took the other. Sora and Mimi stayed in the middle room, although both were annoyed that the boys thought that they needed protecting. They dumped their bags and moved to the main hall where Keiran was waiting.

"So, you found somewhere to stay at last." He showed them to the long table running along the back where food was waiting. They all grabbed a plate and piled food onto it. Keiran raised an eyebrow. "You do realise you don't have to eat everything, don't you?"

"Oh sure," replied T.K. "It's just that we're all real hungry." He sat down at the table next to his brother. Patamon landed gracefully on the table in front of him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Keiran, it's just that for the past three months or so we've been foraging for food to feed ourselves. It makes a change not to go hungry for once." Joe pushed his glasses further up his nose. "And it will be nice to sleep in beds for a while too."

Keiran looked slightly shocked. "Something tells me that you kids have been through more than you've been telling us."

Tai shrugged. "Maybe one day we'll tell you the whole story."

"Oh I hope so," came a voice from behind them. Tai turned in his seat to see a tall willowy woman with silvery hair. "I'm chronicling the history of the Jedi," she explained. "May I join you?" She slid in besides Mimi. "I'm Tionne." The rest of the group introduced themselves. "It's nice to meet you, " she replied. "I do like your pets. I'm surprised that you were allowed to bring them."

"Extenuating circumstances," muttered Izzy, blushing furiously.

Tai leaned in close to whisper to Izzy. "Some one's got a cru-ush."

"I do not!" retorted Izzy a little too loudly. Matt and Tai sniggered.

Sora rolled her eyes. "Ignore them," she told Tionne. "They still act like they have a mental age of five at times."

After they finished eating Keiran led them outside to where Luke was waiting. The Jedi Master got them so sit in a rough circle on the grass with their digimon watching a short distance away.

"The Force is all around us," began Luke. "It's energy field binds all living and non-living things together. We jedi can feel this energy field. We can get it to obey our commands, we can turn to it for guidance." He gestured with his hand and a pebble in front of him rose into the air. "We can use it to change the world around us, for good, or for evil." The pebble dropped. He smiled at them. "But for now you can do little. Or at least you should. My sister however tells me differently."

"Yes sir," replied Tai. Several of the children looked surprised at Tai being so respectful.

"In fact she says that you, I believe, saved her life. From a Demi-dart." 

Tai blushed. "I didn't even know I had moved."

Luke patted him on the shoulder. "The Force is more about feeling and moving on instinct than thinking." He glanced over at Keiran. "Some of my older students should try to remember that as well." He scanned the circle, looking at each child in turn. He pointed at Izzy. "And I believe you have something in common with Keiran." 

Izzy shrugged his shoulders. "I do not believe in this Force that you profess is responsible for all this." He waved his hand around to include everything in the general vicinity.

"So how did you send a flood of what my sister described as purple electricity at this creature that had tried to harm her?" Luke watched as the cells in Izzy's brain ticked over.

Finally the boy answered "I did no such thing. It is impossible." Something sounding suspiciously like a cough came from Tentomon.

Luke smiled. "I know that it is not easy to accept, but it is true. It may be that our universe works differently to your own. In which case you should just accept it."

Izzy lifted his chin. "I'll consider your argument."

Luke spread his hands. "That is all I can ask." He continued to look around the circle. "As for the rest of you, you should bear in mind that what they achieved is only minor. You will catch up quickly, but is this not a race. Haste leads to the dark side of the force." He got up. "Now I turn you over to Keiran's care for the next few hours. He will teach you some important skills in the area of self-defence. A Jedi must be able to protect themselves as well as those around them."

Luke left and the children turned to face their new instructor.

"Stand up," said Keiran. They complied. "Today I'll be showing you some of the basics of defence in unarmed combat." He looked at the group. "I think it would be best to pair you off with someone of a similar height to start with. Sora and Mini…"

"Mimi," she corrected.

"Sorry, Mimi," Keiran corrected himself. "Tai and Matt, Izzy and T.K. and Joe you're with me." He waited until they'd spread out in their pairs. "Now, the first thing that you should know is blocking blows…"

After two hours of work Keiran dismissed them to the showers. He waited a few moments until Luke returned.

"How were they?" the jedi master asked.

Keiran shrugged. "Variable. Tai and Matt seemed a little enthusiastic about beating each other up, but Tai seems to be a real fast learner. With the girls Sora seems more accessible, but neither she nor Mimi likes the idea of fighting. Mimi actually refused point blank at one point to swing at Sora."

Luke rubbed his chin with his hand. "Interesting." He noticed Keiran looking at him oddly. "We have no need to explain to them about the need for violence as a last resort if they already consider that by themselves. So what about the others. What about T.K.? Surely he must enjoy all this roughhousing."

"Actually, no. Unlike his brother T.K. believes in a non-violent approach to life." Keiran shrugged slightly. "I asked them about it, but all I got from them was "What else did you expect from Hope?" They seem to talk in riddles sometimes. And I'm sure those pets of theirs keep watching me." He tried to bring his thoughts back on track. "So, T.K. doesn't like to fight, but has still made reasonable progress. Izzy was another who made progress, but he kept asking questions about why we were doing this, I couldn't get him to shut up. On the plus side, he did know how to use his size to his advantage. I think he may've been in fights before."

"His size?" asked Luke. "He looks perfectly normal for an eight year old."

"He's ten, going on eleven."

"Ah. That would explain the 'short for his age' comment."

Keiran nodded. "That surprised me too. Finally Joe didn't co-operate at all. Kept saying about how his parents didn't want him fighting. I'll keep trying to persuade him, but a word from a Jedi Master might help."

Luke nodded thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do. Right now I should go and find them so that they can begin trying to catch up with the rest of the class. Thank you for your help Keiran."

"Any time Master."

Luke found the children clustered in one of the rooms that they had taken. They each sat with their pet in their laps, talking.

"I don't like it," Tai was saying.

"Don't like what?" asked Luke, coming through the door.

Tai looked at the rest of his group. "I don't like how you are priming us to fight a war for you."

Luke shook his head. "That's not what we are trying to achieve here. We are trying to breathe life into an order that was extinguished by a very evil man. That requires that we prepare you to function by yourself, without back-up." Luke watched as Tai took a silent poll from Sora, Matt and Izzy. _They are the leaders, _he thought to himself. _Where they go, the rest will follow._

Tai smile up at him from his seat on the floor. "You want to breathe life into this order? Then let's start. I was getting bored anyway, sitting here with these guys."

Matt took a friendly swipe at Tai. "Hey, maybe some of us are bored with you shooting your mouth off."

Luke noticed Sora sigh and roll her eyes. _This is obviously normal behaviour for them. _Out loud he said, "Well shall go? I find that the best place to meditate is out in the open."

"Oh god. Piximon has a cousin in outer space!" bemoaned Joe. The rest of the group giggled.

Luke shook his head. They were so child like. Hard to believe that the fate of three worlds now rested on their shoulders. He led them back outside and again got them to sit in the shade of the old temple.

"The Force connects all life together," he began. "We jedi train so that we can feel the Force around us and in time, we learn to control it so that it will do our bidding."

"Yub yub," muttered Matt. They all giggled again.

__

If I could cope with Wes for three years, I can cope with seven children…Maybe. "Let's start, shall we?" The group grew quiet again. "The Force is all around us… Only when we are _quiet _can we feel its presence." He glared at Tai and Matt. They sat quietly. "Good. Now we meditate."

Luke watched as the children gradually settled into comfortable positions, their eyes closing and their bodies relaxing. In contrast their digimon seemed to become even tenser. Luke could sense their worry, and understand it. The children that they had been charged to protect were practically defenceless, sitting around with their eyes closed and their concentration turned inwards. Luke shut his own eyes and waited.

__

Ahh, my student has returned. Exar Kun sounded pleased by Luke's return. He created a simulacrum of the roof of the temple in Luke's mind where mental representations of them stood.

"Master." Luke bowed low. "These children are indeed powerful."

The shadow that was Exar Kun gave the suggestion of a frown. "That I told you before they arrived. What I need to know is can they be turned? Can Hope turn to darkness? Can Sincerity lie? Friendship desert? Courage fail?" With each question the shade became more intense.

Luke shook his head. "I don't understand. Yes some of them _could _be turned to the darkside, but it would be far easier to kill them now."

"We cannot. They are needed to serve me." The shade of Exar Kun wavered. "Someone comes." He started to fade away. "It is Love. Remove her."

Luke felt a tentative touch against his mind. He slowly pushed it away, as if redirecting a flow of water. As it passed on he got a fleeting impression of the colour red. _Sora, _he thought to himself, remembering that his new students all wore their own colours. Once she had removed herself from the vicinity Exar Kun returned.

"Such power," he considered out loud, "but with no control. That is what we must teach them. They must serve us."

Luke nodded his agreement. "With them, the Jedi Order would never need to fear again."

"Quite," acknowledged Exar Kun, although his tone said more of a '_whatever'._ "But one of your order is unfaithful."

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "They all follow me. They think I am a God among men."

"Not Gantoris. He will leave."

"No."

"He has found a new teacher out among the stars. That is why he fought you, he is clearing the way for his new master." The shadow faded. "I will deal with him so that you may keep faith with your students. As long as you have their allegiance, they will not be harmed."

Luke came out of his trance to find the children watching him giggling. "What?" He turned around to find all the digimon in poses of meditation, obviously mocking their partners. _Forget it. Wes was never this bad._ Out loud he said, "It's getting dark. I suggest we start again in the morning." He got up and moved away before they could start giggling again.

After the evening meal the Digidestined again gathered in the largest of their three rooms. All of them had brought the blankets from their beds with them in an effort to keep the chill away. They sat, some on beds, some on the floor, waiting for Tai to speak.

Finally he did. "This is wrong. Something or someone here at this temple is wrong."

Sora raised her head. "It's Master Skywalker. I'm sure of it."

"Why?" asked Izzy. "He has done nothing untoward, why should we consider him a suspect?"

"He kept me out." Sora received several confused looks. "From his mind. But he was subtle about getting rid of me. I almost didn't catch it."

"You think he was hiding something?" asked Matt. "Why? Just because he didn't want you having a good rummage through his head?"

Tai lent against the wall of the room. "He could've been hiding something, he could just've wanted some privacy. There is just no way to tell."

"Well Keiran isn't who he says he is," observed Izzy. Tai made a motion suggesting that the redhead elaborate. "When he was teaching us it would sometimes take a repeat of his name to get his attention. Reacting to your name when spoken out loud is a reflex action. He was slow on too many occasions to assume that he was merely distracted. My conclusion is that his name is not really Keiran Halcyon."

"Something is going on at this temple," agreed Joe. "Something that we are not supposed to know about. I vote that it stays that way."

"Oh come on Joe," moaned Tai. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I never had one." Joe crossed his arms. "It really isn't any of our business. What ever is going on here has nothing to do with us stopping Myotismon and this Exar Kun guy that Doyle mentioned."

Tai yawned. "Well I'm beat. Let's just agree to keep or eyes and ears open, okay?" Several nods came from around the room. "Okay then. Now some of us would like to get some sleep with out his six friends looming over him." Everyone took the hint and moved back to their rooms.

Izzy sat down on his bed and straight away switched on his laptop.

Joe moaned. "You're not going to be up all night typing are you?"

Izzy smiled and shook his head. "Not for long. I just want to try something first." He pulled out a commlink that had been given to him while on Coruscant. "Let's see how good their security is…" He connected his laptop to it and began to test the firewalls on some remote computers.

Joe's eyes drooped until Izzy woke him again by calling out "Prodigious!"

"What?" asked Joe, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and putting his glasses back on. He moved to stand behind Izzy so he could see the computer screen. "What is all this?"

"The mainframe on Coruscant." Izzy's eyes were shining with excitement. "We can try to find who Keiran really is using this."

"Oh joy." Joe rubbed his eyes. "Can we at least wait until morning? It's late."

"Sorry Joe, I guess I lost track of time."

"It's okay." Joe stopped and sniffed the air. "Barbecue? At this time of night?"

Izzy frowned. "I can't think of any reason why someone would be barbecuing after dark at a jedi temple." He slid out of bed and put a cloak on over his robe. "Let's get someone who can track on this."

Tai was less than enthusiastic about being woken up, but agreed that he and Agumon would join the hunt for the mysterious barbecue.

They were all shocked at what was at the end of the trail.

A corpse charred almost to the point where it could not be recognised as such.

They all stood motionless for a moment until Joe ran off in the direction of the refresher, a hand clamped over his mouth. Tai stood watching with grim fascination.

Agumon spoke quietly. "Is that what would happen to you if I ever attacked you?"

Tai gulped. "Probably." He looked at the charred corpse. "I've got to get some air. Excuse me." He hurried away, for fear that he too would throw up.

Izzy slowly walked around the body. _All the extremities intact, still resembles a humanoid in basic shape… This poor soul was burned from the inside out. _He examined the room. A deep cut in the wall, some signs of a struggle, but not enough to guess at what had happened. Hearing voices he slipped outside the room and peered around the corner. Luke along with two jedi he had not been introduced to. Izzy slipped away into the shadows, intending to rejoin the investigation when more people showed up so as not to appear overly interested. _This is interesting. What happened to him? Could I be in danger of the same fate with my skills with energy? _He vowed to follow through his own investigation.

Author's Notes: -

YAY! Done! This chapter goes out especially to Raven who asked for Keiran to be included. I had already planned on it, but its nice to know that someone else likes him. Thank you to everyone who keeps reviewing me chapter after chapter… I really appreciate it. It lets me know that _someone_ is reading this damn thing. (Special mention must go to Leah who actually nagged me by e-mail for when the next chapter would be)

I will still take requests and I'm still looking for someone who would like to do some fan art for me, cause I can't draw very well.


	9. Learning the Hard Way

Luke payed attention as Kerian made is way around the room

Luke paid attention as Keiran made is way around the room. The Jedi Master dimly noticed his other students gather at the doorway while they examined the room. The despair that Gantoris had left in his wake was almost palpable. He let his mouth answer Keiran's questions without much interference from his mind until Keiran asked for a full lab work up of Gantoris's lightsaber. 

Luke turned to him. "Only Gantoris and myself have touched it." He shook his head at his slow pupil. "If you opened yourself to the room you would know this as the truth." Luke turned to the students he could see outside the doorway. _I must tell them something or they too will seek out this other master. "Beware the Darkside, my students. It has claimed another victim. Let us hope it's the last."_

Sora was glad that T.K's youth meant he was a good deal smaller than the rest of the adults at the temple. As it was, the small boy was craning his neck to see what all the whispering was about.

"What'da'ya think happened Sora? Was it aliens trying to suck his brains out?" T.K. stood on the tips of his toes and started to bounce up and down. "No ones telling me anything or letting me see!"

Sora sensed Izzy moving closer. "I wouldn't bother Izzy. I don't think you're tall enough either."

"T.K, you need to go," said Izzy, his voice strangely flat.

"Nuh-uh. Sora said I could stay, right Sora?"

Sora looked at Izzy's pale face. "I think Izzy is worried about you seeing this." Izzy nodded slowly. "T.K, I want you to go wake the others and tell them something has happened. Stay with Matt, okay?"

T.K. nodded. "Okay Sora." He moved back towards the children's rooms.

Sora turned to Izzy. "What is so bad that he can't see it?"

"One of the students is dead. Burned from the inside out."

Sora put her hand to her mouth. "Oh my god! How horrible. I can see why you said T.K. should leave."

Izzy turned and started to walk away from the scene. "I should go find the others." He saw Sora look puzzled. "Tai and Joe came with me, but they couldn't cope. I think they're probably both vomiting somewhere."

Sora caught his arm. "How can you be so cold? A person is dead!"

"Because every time I touch one of you I wonder 'Is this the time I'm going to kill them by accidentally frying them?' After facing that for the past couple days the whole idea becomes numb." Izzy's hands twitched. Sora saw him make a conscious effort to stop. "For all I know, that may be one of you next time."

"Then stop doubting and learn." Sora let go of his arm. "We all don't understand why we can do what we do. That's why we're here, to make sure we don't hurt anyone."

Izzy wiped a sleeve across his eyes. "We should talk about this together. Everyone needs to know what has happened."

"He was dead? Cool!" T.K. almost leapt back to his feet.

"You're too young to see a corpse," cautioned his brother.

T.K. answered in the age-old tradition. "Aww Matt, can't I?"

"No." Matt turned to Izzy. "So what is so important that you had to disturb Tai's beauty sleep?"

"Hey!"

Izzy ignored Tai's outburst. "Gantoris, one of the students here was found dead in his room. He was burnt alive."

"Eww." Mimi wrinkled her nose.

"He was burnt too? Wow!" 

Matt just glared at T.K.

Izzy continued. "My belief is that he was burnt from the inside."

Joe, looking distinctly green, nodded. "I agree. He still looked human, no fingers missing."

Tai leaned back. "So someone or something around here killed him?"

"Perhaps," said Matt. "Then again he could just've screwed up one of his exercises."

T.K. tugged at Matt's sleeve. "But Matt, Master Skywalker says that the Force likes living things."

"So it would be unlikely that it would let him burn himself?" asked Sora. She shrugged. "The only problem is that I didn't get anything strange from the room except that he was in pain."

"Yeah well burning tends to have that effect on humans," quipped Gomamon. Joe shot him a nasty glare. "What? It's true, isn't it?"

"So what now?" asked Sora. "We don't think Gantoris could've done this to himself, and I didn't get a sense of anyone else in his room."

Izzy frowned. "I think Keiran is the key. Master Skywalker said that Keiran could project energy like I can. It is possible that you didn't pick up his sense from the room because he was already there."

Joe frowned in turn. "You think that Keiran managed to send energy into him somehow?"

Tai shook his head. "I don't think he's that sort of person." He thought for a moment. "Sora, can you keep a close 'eye' on him in our training session later today. Maybe that'll give us a clue." He turned to Izzy. "Can you crack their mainframe?"

Izzy nodded. "As easy as integration by substitution."

"I'll take that as a yes," joked Tai, "Cause I didn't understand that at all." He paused to get back on track. "Izzy, you're job is to follow up on this idea that Keiran isn't Keiran. We need to know if he's on our side or not."

Izzy nodded. "Affirmative. I'll grab everyone else's profiles as well."

"Good. Matt, your job is to work with me to push their buttons. Make Sora's job easier." Tai grinned at Matt. "We seemed to annoy him today without much effort, let's see what happens if we work at it."

"This'll be fun," quipped Matt.

"And I have a job for you digimon too," continued Tai. "I want you to look all over this temple and the surrounding area over the next few weeks. Arrange it so only one or two of you are missing at a time, that way we can cover for you."

"Don't worry Tai," piped in Agumon. "We'll make sure no one ever notices that we've gone."

Tai grinned. "And now I've finished my lecture, I vote we go get some shut eye for a few hours."

"Seconded," agreed Joe. "Piximon was never as bad as these people. See you all at sunrise for Master Skywalker's lesson." He got up and left with Gomamon.

"Me too," agreed Mimi. "These sleepless nights do nothing for my complexion." She, Sora, Biyomon and Palmon left.

Matt glared at Izzy. "Shoo! T.K. needs his sleep."

"Okay, okay," protested Izzy. "I'm going."

Tai tried to stifle a yawn. "Day break is too early to do this."

Luke sighed. "We do this early because you have so much to learn. It will get easier I promise."

"Can I at least get a lie in on Sunday?" whined Mimi.

Luke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "You need to learn this now before your test comes."

"Test?" Joe looked panicked. "No one said anything about a test!"

"Relax Joe," replied Izzy. "Master Skywalker was merely referring to our inevitable battle with Myotismon."

Luke decided to start the lesson. "So far you have merely tried to feel the Force. Today we are going to see if you can use it." He sat and motioned for the others to do the same. "Since you are all good friends, I want you to use the Force to play a game. I will send a phrase to T.K., who will send it to Matt, who will send it to Tai, and on round the circle until it comes back to me. The idea is to use the Force as a means of telepathy." He looked around the circle. "You all understand?" He received seven nods from the children. "Okay." He shut his eyes and spread his mind out. He found T.K. quickly. The young boy's mind was open to him, like warm sunshine. He gently said '_Do, or do not. There is no try._' T.K. repeated it back, then broke contact. Luke followed T.K. round to his brother.

_Matt?_ tried T.K. _Matt, this feels weird._

_Feels weird to me too T.K, _replied Matt. _But just think if we learn to do this right, we can stay up all night talking and Mom won't catch us!_

_Really Matt? _asked T.K. _How cool! Mister Skywalker gave me a really weird phase to pass on. He said 'Do or do not. There is no try.' That make any sense to you Matt._

_Not a lot,_ conceded his brother. _I should go and pass this on to Tai. You be okay by you self?_

_Sure! I'm gonna see if I can talk to Patamon the same way!_

Matt smiled inwardly at T.K's enthusiasm. _Have fun T.K._

_Interesting, _thought Luke. _Matt is ice and fire together. If any of these children could be turned, it would be him. _He moved on to listen to Tai.

_Tai?_ tried Matt.

_M……_ responded Tai.

Matt tried to strengthen the connection further. _Tai? You there?_

Tai's 'voice' sounded faint and far away. _Matt? I can barely hear you._

_You and me both, _responded Matt. _Faulty wiring?_

_Very funny. So what's this phrase then?_

_Do or do not. There is no try._

_There is no Tai?_

Matt felt like smacking his forehead. _Not Tai, TRY!_

_No try?_

_Yeah, that's it. Now go and talk dirty to Sora._

_Hey! No fair reading my mind!_

_I wasn't doofus, I just know how your mind works._

_Ah. _Tai paused. _Matt buddy? Would you forget I was considering that?_

_Sure Tai. Now go tell Sora already!_

_Okay, okay!_ Tai broke contact.

Luke considered the children's leader. _Tai may be prone to anger and foolishness, but he would recognise the darkness too soon for my master's purposes._

As soon as Tai broke contact with Matt he felt Sora connect to him. _Don't tell me you heard all of that._

_Well you were shouting,_ explained Sora. _It was kinda hard to miss._

_Still want me to talk dirty? _Tai somehow managed to convey the idea of wiggling his eyebrows between them.

_Tai, you're an idiot._

_Why thank you Sora. I didn't know you cared._

_Go talk to Matt. You both need the practice._

Sora broke contact with Tai and concentrated on Izzy. _Izzy?_

_Sora? You there?_

Sora winced. Although Izzy was not shouting like Tai and Matt had done she could see his mind working on many things at once.

_Izzy, slow down. You're giving me a headache._

_Sorry Sora. _Izzy made a conscious effort to concentrate only on her. _Better?_

Sora had an idea. _Izzy, can you put it behind a wall or something?_

_What are you talking about?_

_Everyone is very open, but you're closed in so tight, like you're hiding yourself. Can you hide a bit more?_

_I'll try, _conceded Izzy.

Sora found that slowly the 'background noise' of Izzy's mind dropped away. _Thank you Izzy._

_And the phrase?_

_Do or do not. There is no try._

_An interesting philosophy. Maybe I shall consider it in more depth later._

_Meanwhile Joe is waiting,_ reminded Sora.

_ _

_ _

The rest of the exercise passed without incident, except for Mimi screaming when Joe first made contact.

"Well," commented Luke. "I must say that you are all fast learners. Maybe we should try something more advanced."

"Like what?" asked Matt.

"The Force is not only passive," explained Luke. He gestured at a nearby rock, which rose off the ground. "It can be used to manipulate objects…"

Gatomon sat in a tree outside of Exar Kun's temple. _But not his influence_, she reminded herself. _He's watching us all I suspect._ She stretched lazily like her namesake, and then hopped to a higher branch. _I should go to the main temple and watch those meddling children._ She leapt gracefully from tree to tree, ignoring the various animals that inhabited the higher levels of the forest.

She found a tree with a wide branch at the edge of the clearing, downwind from the children and their digimon. _As long as they don't see me, I can stay here indefinitely. _She wished that she had been a viral Gatomon at times like these. The dark cat-digimon would have blended more easily into the background.

She watched as the youngest made several rocks bounce up and down. The other children applauded him.

_Fools, _she thought. _They waste time with parlour tricks while my master and his partner take more of the students daily. Soon he shall move, then those foolish digimon will be on their own and easy pray. Partners make you weak._

_That's not true _some small part of her said. _A partner helps in ways you cannot imagine._

_Shut up, _Gatomon told the voice sternly. _I don't want another beating from Myotismon for what I believe._

She watched as the children were lead away by one of the men dressed in green, their digimon following dutifully behind.

A part of her wished she could go with them too.

Authors notes: About time I finished this! Been busy with my A-levels and starting Uni (College to all you American folks). I'm still taking requests for characters (Audience shouts "We know!"). I'd like to take the opportunity to plug my new(ish) website, [http://www.orangeandpurple.btinternet.co.uk][1]

I know you all want me to hurry up, and I'd love to get beyond all this boring Yavin stuff and on to the battle between good and evil, but I have to give this a plot. Sorry. On the plus side, we know what T.K. can do now (Telekinesis if you weren't paying attention). Next chapter will be Joe and Mimi, stuff about Izzy AND if I feel like it, the beginning of trouble for the kids and Keiran.

As always, please review, you want to get a hold of me personally try [fmb105@york.ac.uk][2]

   [1]: http://www.orangeandpurple.btinternet.co.uk/
   [2]: mailto:fmb105@york.ac.uk



	10. The Calm Before the Storm

Matt ducked under Tai's swing Fiona Burch Fiona Burch 2 1588 2001-10-31T14:41:00Z 2001-10-31T14:41:00Z 4 3519 20061 167 40 24636 9.3821 

Matt ducked under Tai's swing. "Watch it Tai! We're only doing drill!"

"Sorry Matt." Tai took the pause as an opportunity to wipe the sweat from his brow. "I keep forgetting what the next move should be and go for what the next move would be if this was real."

Matt lightly tapped the padded stick that served as his lightsabre on Tai's head. "Earth to Tai, this is very far from real."

Keiran scowled at them. "Treat every sim run as if it were the real thing. That's how you stay alive."

Matt shrugged. "Makes a change from 'Do or do not' anyway."

If anything Keiran's scowl deepened. "My… Master and good friend told me that piece of advice. It hasn't failed me yet."

"Sor-ry," complained Tai. "We just think this is really, _really_ fake."

"Well then," tried Keiran, "Why don't we make this as real as possible?" He backed away. "Let's see what you can do freestyle."

Tai and Matt looked worriedly at each other.

"Ready to try this Matt?" asked Tai.

"Sure," his friend replied. "No holds barred, okay?"

Tai nodded and brought his 'lightsabre' up to the ready position. "When ever you're ready Matt." He grinned.

Matt nodded and brought his own 'lightsabre' up to the guard position. He started to slowly circle Tai.

"This isn't a dancing competition Matt," joked Tai, matching Matt's moves

Matt stopped circling and did a little jig. "Says who Tai?"

Keiran folded his arms. "This is freestyle lightsabre drill, not a dance hall on Coruscant."

"Okay, okay," complained Matt. "We get the idea."

Tai sensed Matt's attack half a second before the taller boy started it. Tai brought his sabre round into middle guard, knocking Matt's swipe away.

"That all you got Ishida?"

In response Matt lunged forwards under Tai's guard. Tai jumped back from the point of Matt's sabre, swinging his round over Matt's head. Matt sensed the padded stick's approach and rolled to the side and back onto his feet.

Tai swung his sabre in a diagonal blow, forcing Matt to retreat. He swung again in a reflection of the first move. And again.

The third time Tai sensed that Matt had seen the pattern and was moving to block so skidded onto his knees and cut Matt's feet out from under him.

"Oww!" Matt dropped his 'lightsabre' and rubbed his shins. "That hurt Tai."

Tai got up off the ground and dusted his legs off. "Well you should have sensed what I was doing and jumped."

"Well I didn't get anything, okay? Some of us aren't as good a Jedi as you."

Tai picked up Matt's fallen stick. "I'm sorry. But you did agree to 'No holds barred'. I was just sticking to it."

Keiran came forward. "And doing pretty well too." He patted Tai on the back. "That pattern move was just like ones starfighters pull. How did you think of it?"

Tai shrugged. "Matt likes predictability in life."

Matt straightened up. "And you are just too smug some times."

Tai stuck his tongue out at Matt. "You're just jealous."

Matt just rolled his eyes in reply.

"Well," interrupted Keiran, "Since you're done Tai, can you go get Izzy?"

"Sure." Tai put his stick on the ground and walked to the far end of the clearing where Izzy was sitting, fiddling with his laptop.

"Hey Izzy."

The red haired boy's head snapped up. "My turn already Tai?"

Tai nodded and sat next to Izzy. "He's started me and Matt on freestyle. How's your work going?"

Izzy pointed at the screen. "I've set up a program in the Coruscant mainframe with Keiran's description. In about a day I'll have the result, but then I'll have to refine them some more."

Tai nodded, then thought of something. "Hey Izzy, remember when we first arrived at that planet Feona and Doyle rescued us from?"

"Yes Tai. Why do you ask?"

"Didn't Feona use the word 'sims'?"

Izzy nodded. "And Doyle gave us the fact that it is similar to computer games."

Tai pointed across the field. "Well Keiran just used it. And he told us about a tactic that starfighters use."

"So it's reasonable to assume that Keiran was once connected to Starfighter Command," nodded Izzy. "Yes. I'll incorporate that data into my next set of search parameters." He sighed and closed the laptop's lid. "But for now I need Matt to beat me to a pulp." He carefully set the laptop back in its case. "Don't touch it."

Tai shot him a look that said _Who, me?_ "Wouldn't dream of it Izzy."

Izzy walked over to Matt and Keiran. "So I am to be the next victim?"

Matt grinned. "Don't take it too hard Izzy. Tai whipped my ass, it's only fair that I whip yours."

Izzy stuck his hand out and the stick that Tai had been using flew into his hand.

Matt paled.

"I've been practicing Matt." Izzy shrugged. "Purely in the name of science, of course." He swung the practice lightsabre in a broad stroke to gauge its weight. "I find it fascinating what the Force does to the Laws of Physics."

"Sends them right out the window you mean." Matt took up a ready stance.

"Essentially, yes." Izzy took up a matching pose, then turned to Keiran. "Freestyle as with Tai and Matt, or one of the drills?"

Keiran stepped forwards. "Let's see you do the 'Strike the Moons' drill first then we'll see." He turned to Izzy. "You lead."

Izzy nodded, then turned to Matt. "Ready?"

Matt shrugged. "As I'll ever be."

Izzy performed a set of moves involving strikes at both Matt's head and legs. Matt returned the blows in the pattern that Izzy gave, their responses speeding up. Finally they stopped and raised their sabres in salute.

Keiran nodded. "Well done. That was nearly flawless. I think that you can both try freestyle if you wish."

Matt shrugged. "I'm game."

Izzy put his sabre down and stretched. "If Matt is willing I see no reason not to."

Keiran nodded. "Very well. When ever you are ready."

Izzy picked his sabre back up and saluted at Matt. Matt returned the gesture.

Matt watched as the warmth left Izzy's eyes, the same way as when the boy was absorbed in a problem. _This is not good. _Matt swung fast at Izzy, but found that Izzy had already moved out of reach. He swung his sabre in an arc straight down. Izzy caught it in a high guard position and twisted with the force of the blow to bring him along side Matt, rather than facing him. As he turned Izzy lashed out with a foot, hooking around Matt's leg and yanking the taller boy off his feet. Matt landed with an 'Oof'.

Izzy backed off and let Matt get back to his feet. "You okay Matt?"

Matt rubbed his backside then took up his guard position again. "Never better."

This time Izzy made the first move. Keeping low Izzy made a sweep for Matt's legs. Matt, learning from his mistakes jumped over it and backed away. He then followed up with a succession of blows aimed at Izzy's midsection. Izzy batted them all away, then made his own attack.

Matt grinned and dropped to the floor, swinging his much longer legs out and round to take Izzy off his feet and return the favour.

Izzy jumped and _flipped _over his head. The next thing Matt knew was Izzy's sabre against the back of his neck.

"I think I win." Izzy removed his 'lightsabre' and let Matt up.

Matt turned to face him. "How did you do that? You just started with rocks yesterday and you could barely make them twitch."

Izzy shrugged. "Practice. If I'm not spending my time doing something constructive then it's too busy up here." Izzy tapped the side of his head. "Sora was complaining of interference from my brainwaves."

"You were the one giving Sora a headache?" asked Matt.

Izzy nodded ruefully.

"That was excellent Izzy," commended Keiran. "You learn quickly."

Izzy blushed and put his hand behind his head. "It's what I do." He laughed nervously.

"Well tomorrow I'm putting you up against Tai. I want to see you both push yourselves." Keiran turned to Matt. "You still need to work on sensing your opponents thoughts Matt. It gives a huge advantage in combat." He patted the boy on the back. "But you're done for today. It's Sora's turn now."

"I'm ready," said Sora, standing up from the tree she was sitting under.

Keiran turned to Matt. "Well since Sora is here, could you go to the library. I think Mimi is working with Tionne at the moment and she's up once Sora and Izzy are done."

"Sure," shrugged Matt. He walked off towards the temple.

Mimi sat next to Tionne, watching the woman work.

"I don't get why you like all these books and stuff."

Tionne laughed. "History is important. To know who you are you must know what you've done. That works on both a personal level and on the level of entire civilisations."

"Wow." Mimi smiled. "So you're like a librarian? Cause I always thought librarians were old and yucky."

Tionne laughed her silvery laugh again. "I quite enjoy doing this. I find it helps me when I feel the Force to have a connection to the past."

Mimi wrinkled her nose in thought. "I thought Master Skywalker said that all record of the Jedi was destroyed by that Emperor person, so how are you learning now? Did you find some really old Jedi hiding out in the forest or something?"

Tionne shook her head. "Master Skywalker found this artefact that helps me a lot in my studies." She got to her feet. "Come on, I'll show you."

Mimi and Palmon followed dutifully behind Tionne, going father into the large room that served as the temple's library.

In the centre of a cleared area a pedestal was set up. On the pedestal floated a glowing green cube. It rotated slowly about a point.

"That's so pretty. Can you get them in pink?" asked Mimi.

Tionne laughed again. "This is the Holocron. It is a repository of Jedi knowledge that Master Skywalker found in his travels." Tionne reached out and touched it lightly. The Holocron increased its glow and an alien figure materialised above it.

"I am the Gatekeeper of the Holocron," intoned the image. "What is it you wish of me child?"

Tionne gestured at Mimi. "This is a new student of Master Skywalker. She was interested in where we kept our Jedi lore."

The multifaceted eyes of the image swung to face Mimi. "You have the mark of Sincerity on you," said the image. "You are not the seeker of knowledge."

Mimi stepped forwards nervously. "I'm sorry Mr. Glowy-guy. I only thought the cube was pretty."

The image's face bent in an approximation of a smile. "Do not worry child. I however remind you that appearances are deceptive. You as Sincerity should already know this." He turned to Tionne. "If you wish no more of me, I will depart."

Tionne nodded and the image disappeared. "He's long winded, but nice." She turned as she sensed someone enter the room. "Can I help?"

Matt shook his head. "No, I'm just here to fetch Mimi for her slot duelling." He saw the Holocron behind the two girls shoulders. "Hey, what's that?"

"That's a Holocron Matt," grinned Mimi, happy that she knew more than him for once. "You play with it while I go and train with Sora." She walked out with Palmon in tow.

"What's up with her?" asked Tionne.

Matt shrugged. "We don't get on well. She's a bit too air-headed, and I'm too serious. There is no real compromise." He moved to the Holocron. "Is it safe to touch?"

Tionne nodded. "Will you be okay if I leave you here? I have other things to do for Master Skywalker."

"Sure." Matt watched her leave, then reached out and brushed his fingers lightly across the surface of the Holocron.

Again the Gatekeeper appeared and Matt took an involuntary step backwards.

"Do not fear me child," said the glowing figure. "I am Bodo Baas, Gatekeeper of the Holocron."

"A-what?" asked Matt. "Somehow what ever the Holocron did, I didn't expect a glowing, floating guy."

Bodo Baas shook his head sadly. "Ah Friendship. So cold it could be your undoing."

Matt laughed nervously. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The figure still shook his head. "How strange. Friendship for the one who has so little." It looked him straight in the eye. "Be careful. Light and dark intertwine in your heart. You must fight alone. Ever alone." The figure faded as Matt sprinted away from the ominous warnings.

Sora and Izzy had passed in a flurry of blows several times without scoring a hit on each other. Now they circled each other, both listening to each other's thoughts and trying to devise their own strategies.

Suddenly Sora winced in pain and put a hand to her head. Izzy used the lapse in Sora's concentration to advance and tap her breastbone with his mock lightsabre.

"I believe I have you."

Sora dropped the hand from her head, visibly relieved. "Well done Izzy. That was a great move."

Keiran came closer from the position he had been watching from. "I don't understand what he did."

Sora brushed some perspiration from her forehead. "Izzy has great barriers in his mind. I couldn't attack because I couldn't see his next move."

Izzy shrugged. "Well you were complaining last night that I was being too distracting."

Keiran nodded. "That explains why you couldn't take him, but how did he get you?"

"Simple," replied Izzy. "I dropped them. All of them."

"I was already over compensating, trying to sense his thoughts so when his shields dropped…"

Keiran nodded. "Kind of like listening to quiet music and turning the volume up, then having a rock concert recording start?" he asked.

Sora nodded. "Exactly. I couldn't shove him out before he got me."

Izzy dropped his 'lightsabre' to the ground. "Well I'm guessing it's Mimi's turn now."

Keiran nodded. "Don't forget that you're up against Tai tomorrow. Master Skywalker will probably want to observe."

"So no pressure," joked Sora.

Mimi joined them. "Is it my turn now?" she asked.

Sora floated the practice sabre up in front of her friend. "Take it easy okay? I'm pretty tired."

Mimi took the 'lightsabre' from the air. "Well you know I'm hopeless at all this active stuff. I just hope I don't have to use this thing much."

"Hey Izzy, Sora!" yelled Tai from the other end of the clearing. The others looked at him and he held up a sphere. "You up for a game of soccer?"

"I'm in," called back Izzy.

"Me too," added Sora. "But first I have to do drill with Mimi."

Izzy turned to Sora. "Good luck." He bowed to Keiran, then walked towards where Tai was bouncing the ball up and down on his knee.

Sora sighed and turned to Keiran. "Drill?"

"Drill," confirmed Keiran. "Mimi isn't up to your standard yet. Let's see you do Arcing Crescent."

Sora and Mimi nodded and took up starting positions.

Izzy caught the ball as Tai kicked it at him. "You have an unhealthy obsession with this sport."

Tai shrugged. "Well playing soccer beats us having to meditate." He looked around. "Seen T.K?"

Izzy shook his head. "I think he and Patamon were exploring the temple together." He dropped the ball and passed it from foot to foot. "I hope Matt returns soon. With him and Sora we could start a proper game."

"And I could wipe the floor with you both," called out Matt, sauntering into the clearing.

"Hey Matt," called Tai. "Where you been?"

Matt shrugged. "Around. The library mostly." He turned to Izzy. "There's something there that you should see later."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Matt nodded but did not elaborate further.

_He must not want to talk about it out in the open, _realised Izzy. He thought of something. "Hey guys, I've got an idea."

"Oh boy."

Tai glared at Matt. "What idea Izzy?"

In response Izzy walked back over to his laptop and sat down. He unclipped his digivice from his belt and stuck a cable onto the two contact points. He then clipped the other end of the cable into the laptop.

"What'cha doing Izzy?" asked Tai innocently.

Izzy started to type. "If the digivices have a translation program built into them, then there must be some way to switch it off."

Matt frowned. "Wouldn't that mean that we couldn't understand Master Skywalker and the others?"

"Yes," agreed Izzy. "But by the same token they couldn't understand us."

Matt whistled. "That would pretty much assure us complete privacy."

Izzy nodded. "Unless there was a protocol droid around. But they aren't big on droids here. As far as I know there is only Master Skywalker's Astromech."

"And you know all this because?" asked Tai innocently.

Izzy shrugged. "I ask a lot of questions." He tapped delicately away at the keyboard for a few moments. "Prodigious! I found the program."

Tai sighed. "And can you switch it off and on?"

Izzy nodded and hit a few more keys. "There. Now one of the secondary buttons will toggle between the translator being on and off."

Matt frowned. "What if we need that button?"

Izzy waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "So we can't re-set the clocks. I personally don't think that it's too high a price."

Tai nodded. "I agree. Better we have security than know the time to the microsecond." He looked up. "Hey, I think Sora and Mimi are finishing."

"How can you tell?" asked Matt.

"Danger sense remember?" joked Tai. "And Mimi playing soccer is definitely dangerous."

Both Matt and Izzy laughed.

Matt passed his digivice to Izzy. "Here Izzy, you can do mine now."

"I feel so honoured." Izzy clipped Matt's digivice to his computer for a few moments, then passed it back. "Tai?"

Tai passed his over without comment. When Izzy handed it back he switched it over to off. "Let's play soccer with them switched off as a test. If they tell us we're not speaking Basic then we know that they work before we have to use it for real."

Izzy nodded and called to Sora who was walking towards them. "Hey Sora, you want to play soccer still?"

"Sure," called Sora back. She sped up to a jog and joined them. "You seen T.K. lately?" she asked Matt. "He's been gone a while."

Matt looked around nervously. "I hope he's okay. He and Patamon went out exploring around the temple."

Sora half closed her eyes. "It's okay Matt. He's about ten minutes walk over there." She pointed off to her left.

Matt sagged with relief. "I'd forgotten he'd gone off. I hope he's okay."

Tai patted Matt on the shoulder. "Don't worry Matt. T.K. and Patamon know what to do if they get into trouble."

Izzy held his hand out to Sora. "Digivice?"

Sora handed it over. "Why do you need it Izzy?"

Matt ruffled Izzy's hair. "The genius found a way to switch the translator's off so we can talk privately."

Izzy handed Sora back her digivice and shot Matt a dirty look.

"Are we going to play or just talk about it?" asked Tai.

Sora grinned and flicked the ball into the air with her foot. "I thought you'd never ask."

"It's just down here Izzy." Matt led the way through the tall bookshelves of the library.

Izzy hoisted his laptop higher on his shoulders and followed dutifully. "So what is it that we're searching for?"

Matt pointed at the glow coming from around the bookcase. "That."

Izzy rounded the corner. "What is it?"

"A Holocron. It's some sort of computer database thingy." Matt reached out and touched the glowing cube lightly. The glowing figure of Bodo Baas appeared above the Holocron.

"Ah Friendship, now you are not so alone." The alien Jedi's compound eyes swivelled to Izzy. "Young Knowledge. You must have many questions. Alas I can only answer a few."

Matt looked at Izzy. "Can you take it from here?"

Izzy nodded. "I'll tell you what I find in the morning." 

Matt pulled his cloak closer around his shoulders. "I should get back to T.K." He left the library and headed in the direction of his room.

Izzy booted up his computer quickly and sat cross-legged in front of Bodo Baas. "You called me Knowledge and both Matt and Mimi reported that you called them by their crest names. How is it that you can recognise us?"

"You have a type of aura about yourselves." Bodo Baas moved his hand in an expansive gesture. "The students here have not progressed far enough to sense them, but the Holocron can."

"Can you tell us anything about our individual talents?"

Bodo Baas nodded. "Prophecy tells us five of the seven. Love and Sincerity can both see into men's hearts, Love with greater clarity, Sincerity with a greater ability to influence them. Courage and Reliability can both see what is to come. Although Courage is vague, it is immediate, while Reliability must wait. Finally Knowledge can see into machines, and use their own life-force in his defence." Bodo Baas inclined his head. "Is that sufficient?"

Izzy nodded, furiously typing what he had just heard. He finished, and looked up at the gatekeeper. "And what of the battle with Myotismon? Any hints?"

Bodo Baas shook his head. "We were given a prophecy long ago, but it's meaning remains hidden to us."

Izzy put his head on one side. "Can you show it to me?"

The image waved and was replaced by a hologram of a piece of parchment. Izzy studied the curved marks, then reached for a piece of flimsey. "I'm just going to copy this to see if I can work out a translation program." Izzy scribbled furiously onto the flimsey. _It's all in Japanese! I can tell the others about this in the morning._ Eventually he copied the whole prophesy onto flimsey and stored the whole thing in his backpack.

The image of Bodo Baas returned. "None have been able to understand these symbols."

Izzy shook his head sadly. "I don't recognise it from my world either, but I'll see if I can get the gist of it." He looked the hologram in the eye. "Thank you for your help. I believe I shall now retire for the evening."

The hologram bowed to Izzy, then dissolved into the air.

_This isn't real, _thought Matt. _I'm dreaming. That's the only reason I would be here again._ He stood in Odiba Park, watching the birds arc across the sky. He could hear T.K, a much younger T.K, crying in the background. _I don't want to remember this. I don't want to remember this pain._

"Pain?" asked a voice behind him.

Matt spun round. "Who is it?"

A piece of shadow rose up from the ground and formed itself into a rough approximation of a humanoid. "Pain makes you strong. Rage makes you powerful."

Matt laughed coldly. "I was in an awful lot of pain this day. And rage too. And all that happened was that any power I had was taken away, just like my brother and Mom."

The shadow shook his head. "But being alone makes you strong. You need no one. No one needs you. You can't hurt anyone by your mistakes." The shadow moved closer. "And you are alone."

"No." Matt's reply was more of a plea than a denial.

"Your friends stand by you as much in your dreams as in the waking world." The shadow drew back. "You could be stronger than them. Their reliance on each other is their weakness, your isolation your strength."

Matt faced him with a cold gleam in his eye. "I don't know who you are but get the hell out of my head!"

"But Yamato," replied the shadow, its form shifting. "How can you run from yourself?"

Matt found himself facing a mirror image of his face.

Izzy opened the door quietly, for fear of waking Joe. He instantly realised he shouldn't have worried as Joe thrashed on the bed, caught in some nightmare.

Izzy put his laptop down and grabbed Joe firmly by the shoulders. "Wake up Joe!" He shook the older boy hard. "Come on, up and at 'em!"

Joe sat up suddenly, his eyes wide with fright. He put a shaking hand to his head. "Just a dream." He seemed to focus on the room. "Izzy?"

"Nightmare?" asked Izzy.

Joe nodded. "It was awful."

Izzy frowned, remembering what the Holocron had told him. "Can you tell me about it?"

Joe shook his head. "It wasn't very coherent. Lots of different images. Of all of you." He swallowed. "In pain." He picked up his glasses. "I only saw three things really clearly. You screaming as you channelled energy. T.K. pleading with Matt, crying for mercy as he fried you with blue lightning." He swallowed again. "And Matt standing over Tai's body." Looked straight at Izzy. "Tai was _dead._ He had a burn through his stomach." He looked back down again. "Matt was holding a lightsabre."

Izzy swallowed. "Joe, it was just a dream. Too much drill with Keiran." He smiled at Joe. "Go back to sleep. We have a lot to talk about in the morning."

Izzy watched Joe until he fell asleep again. _Reliability can see the future. Did Joe just see Tai and me killed by Matt, or was it just a nightmare? _Izzy pulled his thin blanket higher over his shoulder. _I think I should keep this to myself for now. It would just upset T.K. and Matt._

Authors Notes: GEEZE this is a huge chapter! Problems are brewing with the kids and soon it will come to a head. Still taking requests for characters (I've only ever had one) but even if you want to request something as bizarre as an Ewok, or Shalla the Hutt or Mara Jade I will make an honest attempt to put them in.

As always review, review, review!


	11. The Plot Thickens

Tai yawned and stretched lazily. "So what you got Izzy?"

Izzy grinned "Plenty." He sat down with Tentomon beside him on the floor of Tai, Matt and T.K's room. "Unfortunately I don't want to repeat myself so we should wait for the others."

Tai nodded and went back to stretching.

Matt grinned. "Note to self-To drive Tai crazy tie him down so he can't move."

Tai glared at Matt, then reached down to his toes. He straightened, then sat. "So any luck on your other project yet Izzy?"

Izzy shook his head. "It's going to be another three hours yet until the preliminary results are in."

Sora, Biyomon and Palmon walked in, followed by a very sleepy Mimi.

"Three hours? Till what?" asked Sora.

"Till Izzy starts looking for Keiran's real name," explained Matt. He looked around. "Where's Joe?"

"I'm here," replied Joe, walking in through the door while rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"You okay?" asked Mimi.

"Sure," responded Joe. "I just had a bad night, that's all."

"Well now that we're all here, are you ready to spill it Izzy?" asked Matt.

Izzy nodded. "But first, everyone check your translators are off." There was a brief flurry of movement as everyone checked their digivices. Once the commotion stopped Izzy started to speak again. "I gained much valuable information last night, and I plan to inquire further tonight."

Tentomon poked Izzy delicately with a claw. "So tell us Izzy, before we all die of old age."

Izzy flicked the on switch of his laptop. "Firstly, I've found information on five of our specialities within the Force." He turned to the two girls. "Sora, as we have already found can read minds with great skill. Mimi apparently has the ability to cast illusions and fool the senses."

"Wow!" cooed Mimi. "So I can make Tai run into a wall because he can't see it and stuff?"

"Hey!"

Izzy nodded. "That is my theory. You may wish to talk to Keiran about some one-on-one training. Apparently one of his fortes is also in illusion."

Tai stretched again. "So what about the rest of us?"

Izzy pointed at Tai and Joe. "Apparently both of you can see the future, which is what your danger sense is a manifestation of Tai. You see things that will happen only seconds away. Joe, however can see into the far future, but gets no perspective of time from it."

"And how can I use this skill?" asked Joe.

Izzy shrugged. "I have no idea. You should ask Master Skywalker." Finally he turned to Matt and T.K. "I'm sorry, but the Holocron didn't give me any information about either of you."

"What about you Izzy?" asked Sora. "Did the Holocron tell you anything useful?"

"Apparently not only can I absorb and expel energy, but I can use this ability to control machinery." Izzy frowned and concentrated. The screen on his laptop winked off. Izzy exhaled and rubbed a hand over his forehead. "First time I've tried that."

"What was it like Izzy?" asked T.K. curiously.

"Tiring," supplied Izzy. "It was like I could see the path the current was following. I just blocked it and it switched off."

Matt lent forwards and rested his chin in his hands. "I think you should practice this. We could then hack into computers from a distance."

Izzy nodded hesitantly. "I suppose, but it would require me to work incredibly fast in binary. That's just evil." He saw the others look confused. "Sorry guys. Computers weren't designed to be mind operated for a reason."

"Oh well," shrugged Tai. "Did you really get nothing on T.K. and Matt's powers?"

Izzy shook his head. "Nothing. But I would guess that T.K's abilities lie in telekinesis. He did pick it up much faster than the rest of us."

Patamon nodded. "You didn't see us in the forest yesterday. T.K. made the fort outta dirt for us to play in!"

"Yeah," grinned T.K. "A real big one with cannons and a big gate and everything!"

Matt looked miserable. "So I'm clueless then?"

Sora rubbed Matt's arm. "Don't worry Matt. You'll find out soon what you can do."

Matt smiled wanly. "Just my luck, first I'm a bad Digidestined, now I'm a bad Jedi."

Tai shrugged. "Did you get anything else Izzy?"

Izzy nodded. "You could say that." He pulled out a piece of flimsey from where it was hidden in his belt. "There was a prophesy in the Holocron. I was told that no one had ever translated it. Fortunately it seems to have been written in hiragana so we can understand it."

"So why didn't you romanise it and copy it into your laptop?" asked Matt.

Izzy snorted. "For all our security precautions, just let slip that I can read this unreadable prophecy? No, I just copied it and said that I'd try to work out a translation program."

Tai leant forwards. "So what does it say?"

Izzy cleared his throat.

"_The undead king shall come for the Chosen,_

_What he gives with one hand he also takes,_

_The homeland will fall into his thrall._

_The One-who-is-many and the Child of Light will dance,_

_Even in spite of the sorrow warned by the castle door,_

_Hope shall flee from the homeland and the sky shall weep at what is to pass._

_The veil will lift from the homeland,_

_And will take courage in death,_

_And with hope all shall be restored to its former glory._

_Then the undead king and the Beast will rise together from where they fell,_

_The Child of Light will give lifeblood to courage and friendship,_

_And all shall be as one for the Final Battle."_

Izzy stopped reading and looked at the group.

"Japan," whispered Matt. "He's going after Japan."

Tai nodded, his face pale. "And he's going to kill me." He put his head in his hands. "Oh god, he's going to get Kari too!"

T.K. tugged Sora's sleeve. "Sora, I don't understand. Who's Kari?"

Sora spoke softly, so as not to panic Tai further. "Kari is Tai's little sister. She's about your age."

"So why is Tai crying? Izzy didn't say Kari is in the prophecy."

Sora sighed. "Kari is just her nickname. Her full name is Hikari."

T.K. nodded. "I get it. Light."

Agumon put a clawed hand on Tai's shoulder. "Just let Myotismon try to get you. We'll stop him, right guys?"

"Right!" replied the rest of the digimon.

Tai smiled thinly. "Thanks guys. But this is prophecy. We can't fight it."

"Ridiculous!" spat Izzy. "If we know what is to come we can avoid it. Time is flexible, it can change its course."

"But one prophesy about us already came true," countered Sora. "We defeated Devimon and freed File Island, just like Leomon said would happen from prophesy."

Izzy shot an annoyed glare at Sora. _I'm trying to help Tai find his focus so he can start to fight this thing._

_Gottcha Izzy, _replied Sora, both parts of the conversation taking place well below Tai and Matt's threshold of 'hearing'. "But that fight was so uncertain, it could've gone either way."

Tai's grin warmed slightly. "Thanks Sora. I don't like to think of myself as a corpse."

"Then don't." She put her hand on Tai's other shoulder. "Myotismon doesn't know who he's dealing with."

Tai's smiled broadened to a proper one. "Well first chance we get we take the fight to him before he gets to our homes and families, agreed?" He got nods from the other six children. He rubbed one of his robes long sleeves over his wet eyes. "Well let's get moving. Izzy and I have a date with Master Skywalker."

Tai wiped a hand across his brow as both he and Izzy paused momentarily. He saw Izzy move his right hand off his 'lightsabres' hilt and move to rub it against his pant leg. _Silly move Izumi. _Tai lunged forwards, but Izzy danced neatly backwards, knocking Tai's sabre out of line using the sabre in his off hand.

"Nice try Tai."

Tai nodded to Izzy. "Nice feint." He circled round again. Izzy watched him warily, knowing that any move Tai made would be telegraphed though the Force first, then though the muscles of his torso. Tai darted forwards again and Izzy ducked under the blow and brought his elbow up into Tai's gut.

He backed off quickly as Tai folded over clutching his stomach.

"That was so not funny Izzy."

Izzy shrugged. "We've been at this for almost ten minutes. I'm struggling for ideas."

With that Izzy lunged forwards, into close proximity. Tai brought his sabre up in a parry, letting the two sabre's hilts connect.

"Silly move." Tai grabbed one of Izzy's wrists and twisted sharply. An audible _crack _was heard and the sabre dropped from Izzy's hands. Izzy back flipped one handed out the way, and caught Tai a glancing blow on the chin with his foot as it passed.

Tai massaged his jaw as Izzy put his hand out. His lost sabre returned, but Izzy was forced to use his left hand only. He held his right hand close to his chest in a protective manner.

"Let's finish this Tai."

Tai nodded grimly. "This has gone on long enough." He leapt forwards, aiming for Izzy's unprotected right side. Izzy twisted, letting Tai's momentum carrying him forwards.

Tai sensed the danger as Izzy brought his elbow up to strike his temple and turned the lunge into a forwards roll. He rolled clear and used the Force to spring him to his feet.

Izzy set himself again facing Tai and waited. Tai again concentrated on Izzy's weakened right side, this time using a broad swing that Izzy had to cross his arm across his body to deflect. At the last moment he altered the sabre's course so it swept down onto Izzy's leg. Izzy jumped, somersaulting over Tai's head. Tai continued his stroke round and up, spinning one hundred and eighty degrees to tap Izzy's side as the shorter boy landed.

"Gotcha!"

Izzy winced with the impact. He landed, then let his knees fold under him. He dropped the sabre and cradled his hurt arm.

Sora, who had been watching from the sidelines with Master Skywalker and Keiran, gasped as Izzy's barriers dropped, revealing wave after wave of pain.

Izzy rocked gently to and fro, holding his injured hand. Sora knelt beside him and wrapped an arm around the poor boy.

"Oh Izzy, I could hear that crack from way over there." She hugged him gently, for fear of hurting his wrist further, then helped Izzy to his feet.

Tai helped support Izzy on the other side, still using his free hand to rub his jaw. "I'm sorry Izzy. I was just caught up in the fighting."

Izzy shot an angry glare at Tai with tear-filled eyes. "You know, I don't believe this 'A Jedi feels no pain' crap at the moment. And I hope I put you in one tenth of what I'm feeling now."

Both Sora and Tai exchanged glances. It was the first time either of them had ever heard Izzy swear.

Sora motioned for Tai to back off. "I know you're not feeling too good Izzy, but taking it out on Tai isn't going to make you feel better."

Izzy inhaled deeply and Sora could feel his focus returning through the pain, re-establishing order in his mind. Matt came up and took over Tai's position at Izzy's side.

Izzy looked at him wryly. "You after a second chance to hurt me? Hit me when I'm down, so to speak?"

Matt shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to a friend. What Tai did was harsh."

Sora helped Izzy into the temple and onwards to the small room that functioned as the medical bay. "I don't think that was Tai, Matt."

Matt helped Izzy onto a bed. "What do you mean Sora?"

Sora sighed. "When Tai fights, it's like he's gone." She met Matt's eyes directly. "Something cold is there instead."

Izzy winced. "Like me you mean?" Sora looked at him. "I can get feelings from people too you know," he elaborated.

Sora shook her head. "With you, it's like you're not here. You're so quiet and still."

Izzy laughed humourlessly. "I so wish that was true. Some times I scare myself."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why."

"I'm never alone." Izzy hugged his arm closer. "What are we to do now?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know. I think Master Skywalker summoned someone as we left."

"He did."

Sora turned to see Joe walk in with Master Skywalker and Keiran. "Joe! I'm so glad you're here!"

Joe moved to Izzy's side and started to probe Izzy's wrist carefully. "I think Tai dislocated it Izzy. It's going to hurt putting it back in place."

"Oh joy," retorted Izzy. "More pain."

Sora took Izzy's hand. "Here, I'll help."

Matt put his hand on Izzy's shoulder. "Me too. Least I can do for the Izster."

Joe waited until all three were breathing in unison before snapping Izzy's wrist back into place. 

Izzy's face turned a startling shade of white, and his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Sora and Matt scowled at him.

"We were here so you could share the pain," sniped Matt. "So why the hell did you protect us from it?"

Izzy breathed deeply, trying not to throw up. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Izzy, we volunteered to help, you didn't make us." Sora put her hands on her hips. "If we're your friends then we don't mind."

"'Scuse me," muttered Izzy and made a dash for the fresher.

Matt rolled his eyes. "He's way too stubborn for his own good sometimes."

"Sounds like someone else I know," muttered Joe. He dug around in some of the cupboards until he found a long reel of bandages.

Gomamon padded into the room. "Hey Joe, why'd you go running off like that?"

Joe pushed his glasses up his nose. "Master Skywalker called me. Izzy was seriously hurt fighting Tai."

"No kidding?" Gomamon moved around the room, his flippered feet making a soft thumping sound on the stone floor. "So where is Izzy?"

"I'm here." Izzy leant against the doorframe heavily, still pale and clutching his arm. "And this hurts like hell. Can we at least put a splint on it?"

Joe nodded and motioned Izzy forwards.

The shorter boy sat on the bed, his legs dangling over the side while Joe carefully wrapped the bandage around Izzy's wrist.

"I want you to rest your wrist, to give it a chance to heal," instructed Joe. "No drill, no typing with this hand."

Izzy nodded. "I don't think I would be typing with it, even if you didn't warn me not to."

"Give it a week or so before trying anything too strenuous."

Master Skywalker stepped forwards. "Perhaps now would be a good time to teach you all about the healing trance?"

Izzy nodded grimly. "I think that would be a wise consideration. I can't afford to be out of commission in case Myotismon attacks."

Izzy sat in his room gently typing with his good hand. While the lesson in Jedi healing techniques had been informative, it was still not an instant cure-all. He cross referenced through his search results and found four possible candidates for who the mysterious Keiran Halcyon could be. _And the most likely of those is not the kind of person I would expect to be a Jedi._ He examined the file marked Corran Horn again. _A murderer many times over and a rogue policeman according to the Imperial file in the system, a Starfighter genius with a character beyond reproach according to the Republic._ He sighed and looked at the next most likely candidate. _Marcus Sandskimmer, ex-mechanic for a Y-wing fighter group. Current whereabouts unknown, last seen trying to track down Luke Skywalker, with intent to be tested for training as a Jedi. Apparently survived electrocution and was unbelievably lucky._

Izzy shrugged. Neither of the pictures looked quite right for Keiran. He saved both the files and went back to working on what the mysterious prophecy might mean.

Joe came in and patted Izzy on the shoulder. "Still searching for the identity of our mysterious teacher?"

Izzy nodded. "And I don't like what I've found." He showed Joe the picture of Corran Horn. "This man is the best fit for the available data, but the two files I've found on him paint very different pictures."

Joe skimmed the files and nodded. "Let's not forget that Keiran is a possible murder suspect for Gantoris's death. The Imperial file of this Horn would suggest him capable of killing for pleasure, and the older students tell me that Keiran and Gantoris didn't get on well."

"But," countered Izzy, "We know that the Republic and the Empire are bitter enemies. Is it that unlikely that one groups hero would be the others villain?"

Izzy looked up as Tentomon made a distinctive buzz from the doorway where he was keeping watch. The screen of the laptop winked off and the comlink levitated back to it's hiding place under Joe's bed.

A few seconds latter Kam Solustar walked in. "Hello."

Both Joe and Izzy inclined their heads in an abbreviated bow.

"Mr. Solustar," acknowledged Joe. "What can we do for you?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Izzy for a moment." Kam moved to Izzy's side and sat next to the boy. "Keiran is going on an expedition to the Blue Leaf temple and Master Skywalker wants someone to go with him."

Izzy held up his injured wrist. "I'm hardly a good candidate."

Kam shook his head. "We want you Tai and Sora to go with him. Between you if he finds his Master, you will be able to stop him."

Joe frowned. "I don't understand."

Kam leant forwards and spoke quietly. "Master Skywalker thinks that Keiran has fallen under the thrall of the dark side. The original survey team reported that there were some odd readings from the temple and it was declared off-limits. The Master thinks that some evil force lives there and is recruiting people like Keiran and Gantoris into his personal army. Gantoris found out he was fooled, tried to break free and…"

Izzy nodded. "I understand. We go along to make sure that Keiran isn't going to a secret meeting with this evil entity."

Kam patted Izzy on the shoulder. "You're a bright kid. You leave at daybreak. Can you tell Tai and Sora?"

"Sure," grinned Izzy.

Kam nodded happily and left the room.

Izzy's grin faded. "We are way in over our heads."

Joe nodded. "Bad enough that no one here is fully trained without someone actively trying to turn us to the dark side." He took his grasses off and started to clean them. "Plus don't you find it slightly worrying that our three strongest fighters are leaving the group?"

"But surely they want the three strongest to follow Keiran? I can block any energy attacks he makes, Sora will be able to tell if he's about to go over the edge, and Tai can defend us if Keiran attacks us," countered Izzy.

"But he has a lightsabre. A real one, not a fake one like we practice with. What could Tai do against one of those?"

Izzy shook his head. "We've got too many variables in play at the minute to even begin to work out what's going on. Maybe in this trip we can at least take Keiran's loyalties out of the equation."

Joe put his glasses back on. "Well we still have one Ultimate with Matt in case Myotismon attacks. I suppose that we'll be safe."

Izzy shrugged and slid off the bed. "Let's go find the others and tell them about this."

_It's so cold. _Matt pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and looked around. _Not again. Please not here._

A short distance in front of him he could see an image of himself and Tai talking.

"We've got to focus on the real deal here Matt!"

"Real deal?" asked his image.

"Do I gotta spell it out for you?" asked Tai. "Devimon."

Matt shook his head. _No, not this. Tai and me, we're friends._

_Friends? _asked another part of himself. _Crest of Friendship for someone who has none. Who ever is running the show has a fine sense of irony._

_Shut up, _Matt told the voice. In front of him the dream-Tai and Matt were rolling in the snow, locked in combat.

"Stop!" yelled Matt futilely at them.

They stopped and looked at him.

"Why should I stop?" asked Tai. "I hate you and your stubbornness."

Matt's reflection stood. "You fight because you want to be alone. Because friendship is not real."

"No." Matt pulled the cloak around himself even closer. "We've had good times together." Around him the image shifted and took on the form of Piximon's forest. "See? Here with Izzy I was happy. I connected."

"Connected?" asked an image of Izzy. "Why would I talk to you? You can barely string two words together. All of you are beneath me. You worst of all."

"I… I…" Matt struggled to find a denial.

"See? You can't even string together a basic sentence," retorted Izzy cruelly.

"MAAAAAAAATTTT!"

Matt spun round quickly. "T.K! Where are you?"

His brother hung by an ankle, held by Vegiemon.

"Let him go you vegetable!" Garurumon leapt out of nowhere and moved towards Vegiemon.

"Now now, none of that." Digitamamon leapt out and tackled Garurumon. Matt watched helplessly as they fought, same as before in front of the diner.

"Garurumon!"

Nothing. His crest remained lifeless. Garurumon screamed, then went down for a final time. Matt ran to his side.

"Garurumon! Get up!" He sobbed into the wolf digimon's thick fur.

"Matt… Why couldn't you help me?" Every word Garurumon spoke sounded like a death rattle.

"I… I… I tried." Matt pulled out his tag and crest from under his shirt. "It wouldn't glow."

"You saved me!"

Matt spun at his little brother's voice, but found T.K. talking to Joe.

"You saved me Joe. I love you! You're my new big brother!" T.K. gleefully grabbed Joe round the waist and hugged him.

"T.K…." Matt pushed himself to his feet. "T.K, I tried to help you… my crest… it wouldn't glow…"

T.K. turned to him with a cold glint in his eye. "Help? When did you ever help me? All you've ever done is keep your distance." His eyes took on a shiny tint and he looked like he was about to cry. "Where were you Matt? Where were you when I was all alone and scared?"

"I tried… I tried…" Matt sat down and drew his knees to his chest. "I try and I try and nothing ever works." He rested his head on his knees and sobbed.

"Matt." Sora's voice was gentle.

_Sora! She's always kind and gentle. She looked after us all._

"Matt, it's okay to be useless. We don't mind the extra work of looking after you." She gently lifted his head off his knees. "We understand that you're not as good as the rest off us. We make allowances."

Tai walked in and snorted. "Speak for yourself. He's dead weight." He looked Matt in the straight in the eye. "Can't fight, can't think, can't even levitate a simple rock."

Izzy cocked his head to one side. "Maybe the scroll on our powers didn't mention his because he has none. Perhaps it was another kid at camp who should have come with us."

"Leave me alone!" yelled Matt at the dream-images of his friends. "I was just fine until you all came along and dragged me into this crazy quest!"

"I hate you!" T.K. stood before him, fists shaking in anger. "I hate you!"

The other Digidestined and digimon took up the chant. "Hate you, hate you, hate you, hate you…"

"No…" Matt cowered as the group advanced.

"Hate you, hate you, hate you, hate you…" They started to throw rocks and stones at him. "Hate you, hate you, hate you…"

Matt raised his arm to protect his face.

The mob's mantra increased in volume. "Hate you! Hate you! Hate you!"

"Why?" sobbed Matt. "I try to be a good friend!"

"Friend?" scoffed Tai. "What sort of friend would hit another?"

"What friend would abandon me?" asked T.K.

"Or make fun of me?" asked Izzy and Joe in unison.

"Or ignore me?" Mimi threw a rock that caught a glancing blow on Matt's temple.

Matt fell and the mob closed in, growing louder and more deadly. "HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATE YOU!"

The blows came thick and fast, raining down on his frame without respite.

"Stop," Matt choked out. "Please… Stop… I'll do better…"

"HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATE YOU!"

Matt felt something inside himself snap. "I HATE YOU TOO!" The mob retreated slightly. "I hate your whining Mimi! I hate you're 'I'm better than you' attitude Tai, I hate how you use long words just to confuse us Izzy, I hate you Sora for being closer to T.K. than I am…" He turned to his brother and his voice dropped to a whisper. "I hate you T.K. I hate your whining, and snivelling and crying. I hate having to watch over you, to protect you, to care for you. I hate you for being good enough for Mom." He threw his head back and laughed manically. "I HATE YOU ALL!" He threw his arms out and lightning flew from his splayed fingertips, burning wherever they touched flesh. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Matt spun, burning down those who tormented him. "DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!" He collapsed sobbing, the corpses of his so-called-friends surrounding him. "I hate you, hate you, hatehatehatehate…"

Myotismon smiled. Through the residual link with Exar Kun he could feel the Sith spirit's equal pleasure.

"Human suffering is such an exquisite sensation," he observed.

_His suffering brings him closer to the dark side,_ reminded Exar Kun. _See how he uses his fear and anger to burn them in his dreams? It will not take much before he will do the same in the waking world._

Myotismon smiled, baring his fangs. "Human children are such fragile creatures. No care is needed to break them." He took a moment to savour the memory of Friendship's mental anguish. "But the older students must be approached far more carefully."

_Do you think Skywalker suspects me then?_

Myotismon inclined his head slightly. "You are a master of your craft, weaving a web of lies with no gap in the weft." He felt Exar Kun's pleasure at the acknowledgement. "But Skywalker has crossed the line to the dark side before. He'll recognise it soon for what it really is."

Exar Kun laughed. _Skywalker is a fool. He will be mine before he lifts the veil over his eyes. I have almost half of the students. Only your Digidestined and two others remain._

"And when they fall…"

_I get an unstoppable Sith army, and your enemies are gone and you can rule your Digital Empire in peace._

Soft footfalls approached.

Myotismon faced his most loyal servant. "Ahh Gatomon. What have your observations revealed?" 

Gatomon bowed low before responding. "Four leave at day-break for the Blue-Leaf temple."

_Excellent. The crystal will weaken their defences to me even more._

Gatomon shivered slightly at the disembodied voice. "As you say my lord. What do you wish of me? To follow them or to remain at the temple as an observer?"

Myotismon considered this. "Follow them. They will lower their guard, as they will be outside the walls of the temple. They may reveal something that we can use against them."

"As you wish." Gatomon bowed again and withdrew from their presence.

_She is a good servant._

"That she is. She will follow me until death."

_Perhaps._

Something in Exar Kun's tone made Myotismon pause. "You believe that she will not remain true to me?"

_She is like a crystal with the tiniest of flaws. If one applies pressure in exactly the right spot, she will split in two._

"I shall have her watched. If she shows sign of betrayal…"

_I should like to deal with her. It would give me much pleasure to personally destroy again._

Myotismon nodded. "Very well. I see no reason why not." He smiled evilly. "But I would like to watch. Her suffering is something I would enjoy."

_You should send your troops out tomorrow._

"What would it accomplish?" Myotismon was confused.  "You don't wish me to destroy the children."

_But it will remind them that time is of the essence. And haste leads…_

"To the dark side." Myotismon nodded. "I will send a force that they can match, not beat too quickly. It will force them to fight hard, and it means I need not tell my forces to hold back."

_And if your forces should fall?_

Myotismon smiled again. "They can always be replaced."

"So how far is this temple anyway?" asked Tai.

"Couple of klicks," replied Keiran. "And I still don't see why you brought your pets along. Surely they find all this walking uncomfortable." He looked at Agumon's bizarre gait.

"You'd be surprised at how used they are to walking," quipped Sora.

Keiran rolled his eyes. "Would you please explain some of your cryptic comments? It's driving me crazy!"

"We were stuck on a planet with no civilisation for about four months," explained Izzy. "Walking for that long kinda makes you adjust to it."

Keiran blinked. "You kids are making all this up!"

Tai rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I wish we were. We haven't seen our homes or families in four months."

_Liar, _Sora shot at him. _You went home._

_And I had to leave because I wasn't destined to stay. I had to leave my sister behind!_

_I hate to break this up guys, _interrupted Izzy, _but Keiran will start listening in on this in a moment._

"So where you from Keiran?" asked Tai. "Got any family?"

"Corellia. And my family is… Gone." He wiped at his eyes. "Can we not talk about it?"

"Sure," replied Sora. "In a way we've all lost our families. We understand how you feel." She pushed a branch out of her way. "So what now, we just walk in silence?"

"Pretty much," agreed Keiran.

_Talkative, isn't he?_ asked Tai.

_Oh come on Tai, we're both evading answering personal questions. _Sora gave Tai her best disapproving glare. _Maybe he can't tell us, like we can't tell him._

_Well we learnt something. He said klick._

_So what Izzy? _asked Tai. _I've said klick._

_Did you know what it meant?_

Tai flashed an image of him sticking his tongue out at Izzy.

_It's military slang for kilometre._

_So your military theory is getting more proof? _asked Sora.

_Yes. But remember both of my main candidates were in military organisations and I would rather that this was Marcus Sandskimmer than Corran Horn._

_You and me both Izzy, _agreed Sora.

Matt sat under a tree, Gabumon by his side, quietly playing the blues on his harmonica. His hands moved on their own, allowing him to think through what had happened the night before.

_Why did I dream that?_ he asked himself. _And why did I dream that I burnt them down where they stood?_ He looked over to where T.K. was helping Mimi practice her illusions. _Everyone has a purpose, a skill. Even Joe is working with Master Skywalker inside somewhere on seeming the future._ He took the harmonica from his lips and sighed. _Except me. I have no purpose in the team._

Gabumon looked up at his partner. "What's wrong Matt? Why did you stop?"

Matt sighed again. "I've been having trouble sleeping." He played with the harmonica in his hands for a few moments. "Gabumon? Do you hate me?"

"What?" asked his confused digimon. "Matt how can I hate you? You're a part of me." He placed a fur-covered hand over Matt's fidgeting ones. "I stayed with you when you were sick on that snow island didn't I? And in Digitamamon's Restaurant? And the depths of Coruscant?"

Matt smiled slightly. "Thanks Gabumon. Now at least I know that there's one person who doesn't hate me."

"The others don't hate you Matt."

Matt smiled wryly. "That's what I keep telling myself, but a part of me won't listen." He moved the harmonica back to his lips and started to play.

T.K. smiled as he heard Matt's slow haunting melody from across the clearing. "Matt's the best big brother I could ever have."

Patamon stretched lazily in T.K's lap. "You're sure right T.K."

Mimi exhaled slightly. "What colour is it now?"

T.K. looked at the flower growing between them. "Still yellow."

Mimi sighed and opened her eyes. "I don't see why it won't work."

"Maybe you have to work harder at really _wanting _that the flower is another colour," offered T.K. "Master Skywalker always says 'Do or do not'. I think this is the sorta stuff it's meant for."

Mimi's brow wrinkled in thought. "But why should the flower change? It's perfectly pretty how it is now."

"I know Mimi," grinned Patamon. "You hate being dressed in green right?" Mimi nodded. 

"So," continued T.K, "Why don't you make us think you're wearing pink?"

Mimi clapped her hands together in delight. "What a great idea T.K!"

T.K. blushed. "Aww Mimi. It was nothing."

Mimi again closed her eyes and fell into meditation. As T.K. watched the colour of her robe slowly shifted from green to pink.

Mimi opened her eyes. "Did it work?"

T.K. nodded, smiling. "You did it Mimi!"

Patamon got up and did a happy little jig. "You're pretty in pink." He stopped jigging. "Hey, did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what Patamon?" asked T.K.

The trees at the edge of the clearing rustled again.

"That!" Patamon stood on his hind feet in an alert pose.

Palmon moved to Mimi's side. "Trouble," said the plant-digimon.

Over by Matt Gabumon rose and sniffed the air. "Matt! Something's coming!"

Matt looked at Gabumon, then got up and started to run towards T.K.

He never made it as a huge dinosaur digimon ran into the clearing between the two groups.

"We're in trouble Matt!"

Matt turned to Gabumon. "Why Gabumon?"

"That's Triceramon!" explained Gabumon. "He's an Ultimate digimon."

"And he brought friends," cackled an evil voice. A small digimon with a head like a jack o'lantern advanced towards Mimi and T.K. Overhead Phantomon appeared along with a strange looking digimon in a wizard's hat.

"Those are Pumpkinmon and Wizardmon," explained Palmon. "Pumpkinmon is an Ultimate too, and Wizardmon is almost as strong as one!"

Matt paled. _And they attack when Tai, Sora and Izzy are gone. That means I'm the only one here with an Ultimate digimon!_ He watched as Palmon, Gabumon and Patamon digivolved. _Not good enough. We can't take them with just Champions._

Ikkakumon bounded out from the hanger, Joe riding on his back. The digimon slid to a halt besides Matt and Joe slid off.

"Matt," he acknowledged.

"Joe." Matt watched Ikkakumon join the fray. "We're in trouble."

Authors Notes: What is it with these chapters getting longer and longer? Oh well, they're fun to write. I hope you guys like reading this as much as I like writing it. To any Matt fans out there, I am so sorry for putting Matt through the ringer!

On a related note, for those of you who don't know what hiragana is, (Izzy mentioned it at the start of the chapter) it's one of the three Japanese alphabets.

The prophecy _will _come true. Anyone who can figure it out in advance will get a special prize!

The Matt-angsty bits and Myotismon's bit were written with 'Yami kara no Mezamase' playing, which is Myotismon's Japanese instrumental theme (Very baroque).

If anyone knows where Mrlsst is in the SW galaxy can you get in touch at fmb105@york.ac.uk as I can't seem to find it on any maps.


	12. It all goes wrong

The Blue Leaf temple was named for the intricate carvings of one of the blue trailing plants that inhabited Yavin VI. Keiran led the way round to the east part of the temple, where a doorway was situated.

"The Rebellion sealed off this place." Keiran tapped the butt of his glowrod against the ferocrete plug across the entrance. "It seems like the Empire had other ideas once they left." He ran his hand over the glassy surface where something had burnt a hole through to the inside.

Izzy moved forwards and studied the hole. "It seems that no one has been here since." He traced out the line of cobwebs crisscrossing the entrance.

Tai leant forwards and brushed them aside. "Let's get on with this, shall we? This place gives me the creeps."

Keiran nodded and lead the way inside, holding his glowrod up high so as to illuminate the chamber. Inside was a chamber much like the one at the temple the Jedi inhabited, but on a smaller scale.

Izzy pointed at the floor. "See the dust? I'd bet that the Imperials were the last people to be in here."

Keiran nodded. "Ever considered taking up a career in forensics kid?"

Izzy blushed and remained silent.

"Aww, don't mind Izzy," said Tai. "He just likes to hear his own voice, that's all."

Izzy grinned wickedly and flicked his finger at Tai. A small spark jumped to the back of Tai's neck.

"OW!"

Sora grinned. "Don't pick fights you can't win Tai."

"Quiet!" cautioned Keiran. "You should be on the look-out for anything out of the ordinary."

Tai climbed the staircase at the back. "Um, Mr. Halcyon? Does a huge glowing blue pillar count?"

"That's what we're looking for." Keiran came up to join Tai, followed by Sora and Izzy. "The Rebel surveyor reported that the stone was oily to the touch, but I don't think we should get to close."

Sora pulled her cloak closer to her body. "It's so cold here."

"That makes no sense Sora," replied Izzy. "Heat rises, so logically this level should be warmer than the one below it."

Sora shook her head. "Evil is here." She moved closer and looked into the stone. "Guys, look at this."

The others moved closer. Under the crystals surface faces swam in and out of view. Izzy watched faces come and go, some in sorrow, some in pain.

A face similar to his own, but many years older swam to the forefront. _Koushiro _it mouthed. Izzy stumbled backwards, lost his footing and ended up on the floor. "Father?"

Sora turned to face him. "What was that Izzy?"

"Er…" Behind his barriers Izzy's mind raced. _Like this is a good time to say 'Oh by the way I'm adopted and I just saw my dead father call be by name in there'. Come on, think!_ "Grandfather. That's what I said." The words spilled out of Izzy's mouth in an effort to be accepted as truth. "I saw my grandfather in there."

Tentomon flew down to Izzy's side. "You were standing there for almost half an hour."

"No way!" protested Tai. "Wasn't more than thirty seconds."

Izzy checked the clock on his digivice. "Tentomon is right Tai. We've been here quite a while."

"The bug talks?"

The three children turned to face Keiran.

"Oops?" ventured Tentomon.

"I vote we discuss this outside," ventured Izzy, glancing uneasily at the crystal column.

"Agreed." Keiran lead the ordered retreat from the building.

As they moved though the deserted temple they took no care over disturbing any of the remaining cobwebs and instead concentrated on the small patch of light that represented the exit.

Once outside Keiran rounded on the children. "Okay, I think it's about time that you came clean with me." He gestured at the digimon. "These aren't pets, are they?"

"No sir," conceded Izzy. "But then you're keeping something from us."

Keiran laughed. "Like what?"

"Like you're not Keiran Halcyon." Tai watched Keiran's reaction carefully to see if he might turn violent.

Keiran's shoulders sagged. "You're right. How did you know?"

"Lag time in your reaction time to your name," replied Izzy. "Other clues you gave us was that you were once in Starfighter Command."

"Once we knew that," continued Tai, "It was an easy task to run a search though their personnel files and find a match."

Izzy glared at Tai. _We? You mean I ran a search._

_Yeah, yeah Izzy._ Tai motioned at Izzy to continue the explanation.

Izzy turned to Keiran. "I couldn't find an exact match. We know that you are either Marcus Sandskimmer, or Corran Horn, we're just not sure which."

"Corran Horn." Keiran, or rather Corran extended a hand toward Tai.

Tai withdrew slightly. "I wish you hadn't said that." He assumed a more balanced stance, placing himself between Corran and his friends. Agumon joined him at his side.

Corran raised his eyebrows. "I don't understand. I've never had that reaction before."

Izzy moved a step forwards, although still behind Tai. "I found your Imperial file, one that had been originally in Cor Sec's database."

"Ah." Corran shook his head slowly. "That's all rather complicated. When I fled Corellia I left with my partner, her husband and our supervisor. To stop suspicion from the Imperial Liaison Officer that we were planning this we staged an incident that called for me to be disciplined. None of those pirates were real people. If you looked at their birth bytes and reverse the day and month, you'll see a pattern."

Izzy shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand your date system."

Sora stepped forwards. "He's not lying. He's not even being evasive. That was the total truth."

Tai turned to her. "You sure Sora?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. I can even guess why you changed your name when you came here." Corran merely raised an eyebrow to suggest that she elaborate. "You didn't want the famous fighter pilot to be recognised. That why you dyed your hair as well as grew a beard."

"Hold on," said Izzy. "You told us that your family was gone. But your file says you have a wife."

Corran nodded sadly. "She's missing. Has been for weeks. I'm here to try to learn how to find her."

"How sad," replied Sora.

Corran blinked back tears. "So what about these 'pets' of yours then?"

"Digimon," said Tentomon. "We're digimon. Short for digital monsters."

Izzy patted the top of Tentomon's shell. "They're kinda like guardian angels. They protect us against our enemies."

"Enemies?"

"Like Myotismon. He's here, now. On this moon." Tai looked around carefully. "He's in league with a Sith spirit called…"

"Exar Kun," finished Corran. "I know he's here on Yavin IV. He's tried to turn me."

"What?" exclaimed Izzy. "He's trying to turn students?"

Corran nodded. "Gantoris, before he died claimed that there was a 'Dark Man' after him. I did some research at Master Skywalker's request and found Exar Kun's name at the top of my list."

"If he's trying to turn people," said Sora, thinking out loud. "Then maybe Myotismon won't be trying to kill us after all."

Corran looked confused. "Why would he do that?"

"We know that the two of them are working together," explained Izzy. He turned to Sora. "But most likely Myotismon would be supremely happy if our digimon ceased to be."

Tai nodded. "It's true that we can't fight him, but they can. He probably wants to turn them too so that he gets more Ultimates working for him."

"So what now?" asked Sora.

"We go back to the temple," replied Corran, "And we pretend that we don't know anything about any of this stuff with Exar Kun and Myotismon. But we keep our eyes and ears open, and we work together from now on."

"Agreed," said Tai, speaking for the whole group. "And I think we should see about getting some help. Exar Kun will soon want to take over the temple and train people directly."

"Too late," said Izzy pointing at the sky.

Over in the direction of the temple multicoloured flashes could be seen.

"Looks like the party has started without us," commented Tai.

"And will end without us too," added Corran. "There's no way we can get back before it's all over."

"Really?" asked Sora and looked at Biyomon.

The pink bird nodded and started to glow. "Biyomon digivolve to… Birdramon."

Tentomon followed suit. "Tentomon digivolve to… Kabuterimon."

"Sithspit!" exclaimed Corran. "Can all your digimon do that?"

Izzy nodded. "They digivolve into stronger forms when they need to fight." He used the Force to help him leap to Kabuterimon's neck. "Come on, it's faster than walking."

Tai and Sora each sat on one of Birdramon's feet. "See you there Izzy!"

The giant bird took to the sky.

Corran eyed the giant bug in front of him nervously. "So how do I get up?"

Kabuterimon put a clawed hand out. "Here. I'll lift you part of the way."

Corran looked at it sceptically, then stepped on. Kabuterimon lifted him to a point where he could cross to Izzy's position.

"Be careful," warned Izzy. "The turbulence up here can get bad."

Kabuterimon started to beat his wings. 

"I see what you mean," said Corran over the howling wind. "It's no worse than some of the atmospheric fighters I've flown."

Izzy nodded, his hair flying all over the place. "Let's get going Kabuterimon."

Matt ducked as Weregarurumon flew overhead, hurled by Triceramon. "We are in so much trouble."

Joe nodded. "And isn't it funny that these guys choose now, when our strongest fighters are gone to attack?"

Matt chose not to answer and instead to focus on the other side of the field where Togemon and Angemon were fighting hard against Pumpkinmon and Wizardmon. "T.K…"

Joe put a hand on Matt's shoulder. "Don't worry Matt. Angemon knows how to take care of T.K."

"We should still try to join them," countered Matt. "It would mean that we had less area to defend."

Joe nodded. "Okay then, but we better keep low so as not to attract the evil digimon." He led the way round the clearing, staying away from the fighting.

Matt kept his eyes flicking between Weregarurumon and T.K. the whole way round. As he got close Weregarurumon went down again and was surrounded by a glow.

"No! Weregarurumon!" Matt could see that the two Ultimates had ganged up on Weregarurumon, causing the digimon to dedigivolve back to Gabumon. The two evil digimon turned to face Mimi and T.K.

"NO!" Joe leapt forwards and knocked Mimi out of the way. Under his robes his crest lit up and Ikkakumon started to glow. "Ikkakumon digivolve to… Zudomon." Phantomon laughed evilly and advanced on Zudomon. Besides him Triceramon raised a hoof and prepared to bring it down on T.K. Matt checked on Angemon and saw that the digimon was held fast by Pumpkinmon.

In fear and desperation Matt started to run towards his brother. "Leave him alone!"

T.K. whimpered slightly, unable to break his gaze from Triceramon's massive hoof bearing down.

"T.K, move damn you!" Matt pushed his legs to move even faster.  He could see that he would never make it in time. "T.K!" In his mind's eye he could see his mother and father's disapproval and blame. _Why didn't you look after your brother?_ In desperation and panic he raised a hand towards his brother and reached to the Force. _Come on, for once work for me! _

He felt like lightning had struck him as pure life ran into him. He took it, bent it to his will and wrapped it around the Triceramon, stopping its descending hoof. "Stay the hell away from my brother!" He felt resistance from the digimon and laughed. "You think that brute strength will out do the Force?" Matt smoothly raised his hand. Likewise the Triceramon's hoof rose. It rose to a completely unnatural angle and Matt grinned evilly. A sharp snap came from the digimon's leg.

"That's for scaring my brother." Matt's eyes went cold. "But as for threatening him…" He turned his hand over, palm down, and started to close his fist. The digimon screamed in pain as its ribs started to give way.

T.K. ran to Matt's side. "I'm okay Matt. You can let him go now."

Matt's gaze never wavered from the struggling Triceramon.

T.K. reached up and pulled on Matt's outstretched arm. "Stop it Matt. You're hurting him."

"Why not?" asked Matt. "He was going to hurt you." His hand twitched and the Triceramon screamed again.

T.K. started to cry. "He doesn't deserve this Matt. He was just doing what Myotismon told him."

Matt's gaze moved from the digimon he held pinned to his brother, still gently tugging on his sleeve. "T.K?" He seemed to see T.K. for the first time. His brow wrinkled in thought. "What… what's going on?" His arm dropped to his side. "Why are all these digimon fighting?" His eyes lost their focus. "Where's Momma?" He looked around. "Momma?" His eyes rolled back in their sockets and his eyes folded beneath him.

"MATT!" yelled T.K. He tried to catch his brother as he fell, but only managed to cushion the fall slightly. "Please, someone, help! Matt's sick!"

Joe skidded to a halt and knelt besides Matt and T.K. His hand snaked around Matt's wrist and he checked his pulse.

Finally he let go of Matt's wrist. "He's out cold. Why I have no idea." He sighed. "I wish Sora was here. She might be able to tell what's up with his head." He looked up and watched Zudomon attacking Phantomon, driving him back. Triceramon had already limped off into the forest and Pumpkinmon was advancing on them while Angemon and Togemon were fighting off Wizardmon. He looked up as a screech came from overhead. Birdramon came flying into the fray.

Tai and Sora dropped down to the ground near Joe.

"We leave and all hell breaks loose," joked Tai. He turned and pointed his digivice towards Agumon. "Let's do it!"

Agumon nodded and digivolved to MetalGreymon. "Bring it on!" He advanced towards Pumpkinmon.

Pumpkinmon took one look at the orange cyborg-dinosaur moving towards him and fled.

Wizardmon threw a purple globe to the ground. It shattered and created a cloud, veiling his figure. When the smoke cleared the Champion digimon was gone.

Phantomon was not so wise. Zudomon swung his hammer round and Phantomon dissolved in a cloud of particles.

Joe punched the air. "That's my digimon!"

Zudomon grinned, then started to glow. His form contracted and the glow faded. Bukamon floated along the grass and stopped by Joe.  "How is he? Did one of the digimon get him?"

Joe shook his head. "I don't know."

Sora pointed up to the horizon. "Look! Here comes Izzy!" Sure enough Kabuterimon approached and landed gracefully near the others. Izzy and Corran slid to the ground.

"I see no evil digimon so I assume you won without my aid." Izzy kept turning his head to look at the whole clearing.

Joe turned to Corran. "Uh, Keiran? Could you help us move Matt to his room?"

Corran nodded.

"Momma?"

_She's not here son._

"Where's Momma?"

_She left us. She took your brother with her._

"I don't understand Dad. When is she coming home?"

_She's not._

Matt pulled his knees to his chest and cried.

Sora took her hand off Matt's forehead and shook her head. "Where ever he is, he's so deep I can't find him."

Joe rubbed his arms. "This is wrong."  He started to pace. "This is just like back on Coruscant. A storm is rising."

T.K. moved to Matt's side and rubbed a hand along his brother's arm. "Matt? Where'd you go?" He started to cry. "Don't leave me alone like when Tai was missing."

Tai put an arm round T.K's shoulder. "It's okay T.K. I'll be your big brother until Matt comes back." He looked around the group. "We need to talk." He turned to Corran. "You can stay if you like Keiran." He moved his hand to his digivice and switched off the translator. The others followed suit.

"So what do you want to talk about?" asked Sora.

"Keiran. Or rather Corran." Tai noticed Corran's eyebrows rise at mention of his name. "We got him to tell us."

Joe frowned. "Is he safe?"

Sora nodded. "He's going to help us stop Exar Kun."

Joe frowned further. "I think he may already have one of us." He gestured at Matt. "Matt was doing some pretty advanced stuff before you arrived."

"So?" asked Tai. "We're all doing advanced stuff."

Joe shook his head. "Matt was pulling power from the dark side, I'm sure of it." He took his glasses off and started to clean them with one of his robe's sleeves. "It was like there was a cold field surrounding him."

T.K. hugged Tai's legs. "He didn't see me." He looked straight up into Tai's chocolate eyes. "Tai, Matt looked through me like I wasn't there."

Tai met Sora's gaze. "That's not like Matt."

"Not at all," agreed Sora. She knelt beside T.K. "You mean the world to Matt. He wouldn't normally just ignore you."

"We need help," said Tai. "This is too big for us to deal with by ourselves." He reached inside his robes and withdrew a piece of flimsey between a finger and thumb. He flicked his translator back on. "Keiran, we need help. Is there somewhere with a transmitter?"

Corran shook his head. "We have one, but only Master Skywalker and Kam have the activation codes."

Izzy stepped forwards. "How hard are they to crack?"

Corran shook his head. "It would take days to find the code. Looks like we're on our own."

Izzy moved to the door. "I'm going to work on the Holocron again. Maybe I can find something to help us."

Tai nodded. "We need all the help we can get."

Izzy watched as the transport landed in a cloud of dust. He advanced with the rest of the students to the cargo hatch.

"Hey Izzy, Tai! Come over here a minute!" Corran stood with two of the passengers.

Izzy shrugged an apology to Tionne then moved with Tai to join them.

Izzy studied the two newcomers carefully. One was a woman with a willowy figure and blue skin. Her head had no hair, but a cascade of blue feathers framed her face. Holding her arm was…

"General Antilles!"

Wedge inclined his head. "Nice to know you remember me." He gestured at the woman on his arm. "This is Doctor Qwi Xux."

Corran extended an arm. "If you follow me I'll show you to your rooms." He gestured to Tai and Izzy. "You come too. I've no doubt that General Antilles wishes to talk to you." He led the way to a set of rooms on the second level. "Here Doctor Xux. This is yours." He escorted the blue-skinned woman inside then showed Wedge the other room.

Once inside Wedge turned and clasped Corran's hand in greeting. "Corran! It's been a long time."

Corran grinned. "Wedge! How's things going at Starfighter Command?"

Wedge shook his head. "Those Invids are a sneaky lot. Talvira is keeping too low of a profile to find her." He turned to the two boys. "I take it that things are going well for you and your friends."

Tai nodded. "As well as can be expected with people trying to either kill us or turn us to the dark side." He held out a piece of flimsey. "Can you deal with this as we're locked out of the transmitter?"

Wedge took the flimsey and turned it over in his hands. "A frequency? Whose?"

"Feona Seacrest, Captain of the Blue Ray." Izzy tapped the flimsey. "We need her to come within a week for us."

"Trouble is brewing," filled in Corran. "We need to leave before it breaks, without anyone knowing."

"Why not leave with us?" asked Wedge. "Surely that would be better?"

Tai shook his head. "One of us is sick. We need to give him as much time as possible to recover."

Wedge nodded. "I'll escort Doctor Xux to a safe-house, then return to Coruscant and stand by. I get the feeling that you'll need my help before this is over." He used a hand to cover a yawn. "Now if that's all I'll wish you good night."

Both Tai and Izzy bowed and retreated from the room. Behind them Corran stayed.

"What else?" they heard Wedge ask Corran.

"You _like _her," replied Corran.

Tai shook his head. "Not touching that with a ten-foot pole," commented Tai. "Let's go meet this new student."

Matt sat in a dark room. "What's going on?"

_Your salvation._

Matt looked around. "Whose there?" He got to his feet. "Show yourself!"

A tall, cloaked figure detached itself from the shadows surrounding Matt. _You have felt your power._

Matt frowned. "The Triceramon?" He shook his head. "That was wrong. I used the power of the dark side to hurt someone."

_Oh really? _asked the shadow. He waved a hand and a spotlight came on.

"MATT!" T.K. was again cowering as a hoof descended.

"T.K," breathed Matt. He turned to the shadow. "Why show me this?"

The shadow smiled and removed its hood, revealing a man many years older than Matt, but sharing a similarity of features. _I show you this to answer your accusation that you hurt someone. Did you hurt your brother?_

"No. I did all this to protect him."

_So you did good._

Matt considered this statement from many angles. It did seem a valid statement, but he could not see what made him so uneasy. "I suppose in the broadest sense I did do good."

The man smiled, as if Matt was a dog that had just performed a clever trick. _Your Master is a foolish man. He believes that good and evil are absolutes._

Matt frowned. "Aren't they?"

The man snorted. _Every action has a consequence, repercussions. Surely you don't believe that in the complexity of life that all of the myriad results are positive._

Matt folded his arms. "Convince me."

_Your parents, _grinned the man. _They felt it best for themselves if they separated. But you don't feel the same. _He smiled at Matt. _There is nothing good or evil, but thinking that makes it so._

"But then the Jedi would do nothing," countered Matt.

_Foolish boy, _snorted the man. _In this world you either make decisions, or have others make them for you. _ He waved a hand and a spotlight lit on an image of Tai. _He makes his own decisions, and yours._

"That's wrong. He talks to all of us, asks our advice."

The man voiced Matt's unspoken comment. _But the ultimate decision rests with him._

"You're right," agreed Matt. "He always tells me what to do." He started to pace. "What makes him so much better than me anyway?"

_Perhaps, _suggested the man, _it is not because he is better, but he is more willing to do what ever is necessary._

"Are you saying that he uses the dark side? Is that why he beats me?" Matt stopped pacing. "Is it only because I hold myself back that he wins?"

_What does your heart say?_

"My heart?" Matt laughed. "I'm not sure I have one that still works." He stopped laughing and frowned. "I think that it is time I stopped weakening my position with Tai."

The man extended a hand. _Then join me and I will teach you how to make him listen._

Matt considered the hand. "How do I know this is right?"

_It saved your brother. Is that not a worthy goal?_

"Something amuses you?" asked Myotismon.

_Friendship is so dark, so unlike the others. _Exar Kun radiated pleasure freely. _He has allowed himself to be bent to our cause._

"He has?" asked Myotismon. "Then the battle is partly won. The Digidestined are only a threat when they are united. Individually they can be bent far more easily."

Gatomon entered the upper chamber and stood before her master, waiting to be acknowledged.

Once Myotismon inclined his head towards her she began. "The children have allied themselves with the only one who is untouched. They have also found the prophesy of the sabres."

_Did you hear the prophecy? The planets it told?_

Gatomon shook her head. "I could not hear them all, they were too far away and too strange sounding." She cowered slightly as Myotismon advanced. "And the ones you heard?"

"Hoth, Mon Cal-something and Endor."

_Hoth._

Myotismon moved his gaze form Gatomon. "And why is Hoth so important?"

_The sabre of Friendship must be there. It is a planet of ice with no life._

Myotismon smiled. "So we have a Jedi and a lightsabre. And he will bring us the rest."

Meantime we must move quickly. That fool Skywalker has blocked the commwaves on my orders, thinking a Sith is trying to corrupt the students. But he is beginning to suspect.

"Call him here. I will deal with him." Myotismon smiled and bared his teeth. It had been far too long since he tasted blood.

_No, the students would suspect if he went missing. _Exar Kun sighed. _I have been without a mortal shell for far too long. I'm sure Master Skywalker won't mind sharing._

"Prodigious!"

Tai looked at Izzy. "What you got?"

Izzy grinned. "Lightsabres."

Tai blinked. "Care to run that by me again with an explanation?"

"We know that the Jedi knew we were coming right?" asked Izzy. Tai nodded. "So," continued Izzy, "They made us all lightsabres and hid them around the galaxy behind seals that will only react to us."

"Really?" asked Tai. "Where?"

Izzy frowned. "Here's the problem. I have the planets, but not whose is which." He sighed. "Apparently we should be able to sense the landing markers from orbit, but if time is an issue…"

Tai nodded in understanding. "It would take us a long time to find it."

Sora entered the room. "Hey guys."

"T.K. still with Matt?" asked Tai.

Sora nodded. "He wanted to stay a bit longer with Matt so Mimi is keeping an eye on them both." She turned to Izzy. "How's the plan going for getting us out of here?"

"We're set," replied Izzy. "Feona is coming back for us in the next few days if General Antilles helps us."

Tai nodded. "So we need to be ready to leave as soon as she gets here."

"And then we have a list of seven planets to visit." Izzy held up his fingers and counted them off. "In alphabetical order, Bespin, Endor, Hoth, Mon Calamari, Mrlsst, Tanaab, and Tatooine."

"And no idea whose is which?" asked Tai.

Izzy shook his head sadly. "I don't have enough information." He found the words sticking in his mouth. "I just don't know."

"Perhaps we can find something out about the planets themselves," tried Sora, sensing Izzy pain at being unable to find the answer.

Izzy shook his head violently. "There's a jamming field up on the commwaves now. Someone must have known I was hacking into the Coruscant mainframe."

Tai frowned. "One more reason for us to get out of here as soon as we can."

"Watch it Tai!"

Tai ducked as a stun bolt few overhead. "Thanks Izzy."

Izzy shook his head and returned to watching the remote. "Be more careful. I don't want to have to watch you on this assault course." He popped his head up over the fallen log they were hiding behind, and was rewarded with a stun-bolt coming straight towards him. He ducked.

"Any ideas on disabling those things?" asked Tai, staying low.

Izzy snorted. "Yeah Tai. I'll just make an EM-pulse bomb out of these dead leaves and a stick of gum." He took a deep breath. "Let's see." He shut his eyes and reached outwards through the Force.

"You find 'em?"

Izzy shook his head. "Kam must've reprogrammed them to move out to a further range since our last attempt." He shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. "I'm going to try to fry them."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Izzy, if I remember correctly, in order for you to release that sort of power you have to absorb it first."

Izzy nodded slowly. "Yes Tai. I'm going to let the remotes shoot me."

"That's crazy!" Tai shook his head fiercely. "If one of those beams knocks you out then we fail the exercise."

"And you have a better idea?" asked Izzy. Tai remained silent. "Thought not." Izzy rose to his feet in a fluid motion.

The remotes all started to shoot at him and Izzy let the bolts strike him. He took the power of the bolts and used the Force to channel it away from his body and into a glowing ball in either hand.

"Catch." Izzy threw his arms out and willed the balls of energy to fly away and strike two of the remotes. He ducked as they exploded.

"Little too much juice there Izzy," joked Tai.

Izzy glared at him. "I'd like to see you do better."

Tai stuck his tongue out at Izzy. "I've got my own methods." He held up a fallen branch that was a little shorter than his arm. "You distract them, I'll whack them."

Izzy was incredulous. "That's your big plan? Whack them?"

"Yup."

Tai's grin was infectious. Izzy found himself grinning too. "Fine. I'll shoot and miss. Good enough?"

Tai laughed. "Let's do it."

Izzy again rose and started hurling bolts. Tai leapt over the log and brought his stick round like a baseball bat. The remote he was aiming at few backwards into a tree trunk, coughed some smoke, then fell to the ground.

Tai turned. "Wanna take the last one out Izzy?"

Izzy jumped up, over the stream of bolts from the last remaining remote, and landed a metre behind it. He held his hand out, then twisted his wrist sharply through ninety degrees. The remote dropped.

"Found the off switch."

Kam stepped out from the shadows. "Nice to know that you've left one remote still working."

Tai coughed slightly. "Sorry about that."

Kam shrugged. "Well we have a supply run coming in a few days. That should bring us some new ones."

Izzy shook his hands out, leaving sparks behind him. "So where is Master Skywalker? I though he was taking us today?"

"Master Skywalker and Kyp Durron have gone on a hike together." Kam shrugged, indicating that he didn't really understand the motivation behind it. "Master Skywalker thought it would allow Kyp the chance to find his way in the Force without us all watching over him." Kam sighed. "I somehow think that me running this exercise for the others now we only have one remote is a bit pointless."

Both Tai and Izzy looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry," apologised Tai. "But you did say whatever was necessary."

Kam raised an eyebrow. "And completely destroying two and severely damaging another was 'necessary'?"

"Er…" Izzy laughed nervously. "I don't know my own strength?"

Luke knelt before the giant statue of Exar Kun. It was stationed in a huge courtyard in a decaying temple many miles from the one where the apprentices were studying.

Beside him, Kyp Durron took up a similar pose. "Master, why are we kneeling before an old and decaying statue?"

Luke smiled. "We are here to meet a true Jedi Master. This is his home." Some strange animals came out into the courtyard and bowed to them. "These are some of his servants."

"Hiya, how are ya? Great ta see ya!" Demidevimon floated down in front of the two Jedi, his claws making a soft clack as they hit the ground. "The Masters will be here in a moment."

Kyp gasped. "Master, what are these strange creature that can talk our language?"

_They talk ours, or do we talk theirs?_

A tall and imposing figure walked into the courtyard, surrounded by a mist. "A valid point my ally."

The mist detached itself from Myotismonand circled around Luke. _He is young and strong._

"Master?" asked Luke, confused. "I have come as you asked so that you can teach me the true way." He gestured at Kyp. "I have even brought our newest and brightest student so that he can appreciate your wisdom like the rest of your followers."

_Foolish Jedi. _He mist wrapped itself tighter around Luke. _I have much wisdom to impart, but not to you. You have outlived your usefulness to me._

Luke shook his head. "I don't understand. I've done everything you asked to safeguard the students from the dark side."

_Except get rid of me._ The mist started to circle around Luke's head. _You were a fool Skywalker, and now your students are my students. They have followed me for a long time now._

Luke tried to put barriers up in his head. "You can't take me. I won't let you!"

_Fool! You showed me your inmost desires, all your secrets. You think you can keep me out? _The mist shrank around Luke's head, entering him through any available opening on his head.

Luke, or rather Exar Kun in Luke's body, threw back his head and laughed. "Foolish child. I tricked you and you gave in willingly. Now I once more have a body and am no longer bound to this moon. Soon I shall have countless students who will obey me." He turned to Myotismon. "As for this one, you may have him if you wish, he is no concern of mine."

"Wait!" cried Kyp. "What if I were to serve you? You have more power than even Skywalker. If you were my master I would never have to fear again."

Exar Kun raised his eyebrow. "Indeed. And how do I know that you would be loyal to me?"

Kyp squared his shoulders. "You have power. I want power. You have these creatures at your disposal. I am as good as dead if I betray you, so why kill me before you know where my allegiance lies?"

"Indeed." Exar Kun turned to Myotismon. "What do you feel Lord Myotismon?"

Myotismon smiled. "While it means I lose out on a good meal, I believe the human has a point. Some of my most trusted followers were found, not given freely."

"Well then, stand Kyp Durron." Kyp stood and Exar Kun smiled at him. "You are now the third in command of my Jedi army. Betray me and death will not come quickly enough."

Author's notes:- Wow. Matt's in a coma, Luke's possessed, and the kids are preparing to flee to find their lightsabres. I think if I have much more plot going on my head will explode.

Next time, there will be fights… Promise. You don't think Exar will let them go easily do you?


	13. Escape from the Temple

Izzy sat watching Matt as the blonde haired boy fought whatever demons were in his head. He then snorted slightly at the poetic image he had conjured.

Joe came in through the door. "Something funny Izzy?"

Izzy shook his head. "Just an odd though." He slowly rotated this shoulders. "My shoulders are sure stiff."

"It's that lap top of yours," replied Joe. "Plays havoc with your posture."

Izzy stretched some more. "So why are you here? It's another ten minutes until your shift begins."

Joe smiled. "I came to get rid of that bandage on your wrist. You don't seem to be having any trouble bending it now." Joe took Izzy's wrist and turned it so he could see the complex fastening on the bandage.

Izzy watched as Joe unstrapped his wrist. "Obviously this 'healing trance' that Master Skywalker taught us is very useful in accelerating bone and tissue regeneration." He slowly moved his hand about, rotating his wrist.

Joe started to roll the bandage back up again. "Well your wrist better be healed. You've got another sabre drill with Tai and Kam this afternoon."

Izzy grimaced. "Oh how fun."

Matt's eyes flew open suddenly and both Joe and Izzy jumped back slightly. Matt turned his head stiffly to look at them.

"Hey." His voice sounded croaky from lack of use. "How…" He coughed slightly to clear his throat. "How long have I been out?"

Joe poured some water from a near by pitcher. "Almost three days."

"That long huh?" Matt tried to sit up. Izzy helped him to lean against the wall.

Joe handed over the water. "So where've you been? Sora said it was like you were gone."

Matt swallowed the water and wiped a hand across his chin to remove the amount he had spilled in his haste. "I don't remember anything after some Triceramon attacking T.K." His eyes took on a wild look. "Is he okay? The Triceramon didn't hurt him, did it?"

Joe patted Matt's arm. "He's fine. Tai's been looking after him." Joe made to leave the room. "I'll go tell the others that you're back. The midday meal is in about fifteen minutes. Why don't you clean up and join us there?"

Matt nodded and Joe and Izzy left him alone in his room. Slowly Matt clenched his hand into a fist. "So you want T.K. do you Tai? You better be prepared to fight for him." He laughed coldly. "I'll show him who's the better big brother."

Izzy gently stirred the grey sludge that constituted the midday meal. "I would kill for some onigari right now."

Joe smiled slightly. "Or just rice."

Tai shoved this bowl away untouched. "You know things are bad when even the Digimon refuse to eat something."

Around the table the digimon all made various faces of disgust, but as instructed none of them said anything while in the presence of outsiders.

Corran slid into place besides Mimi. "Hey." Around the table the children all nodded their greeting. "The supply run arrives tomorrow at noon, local time." He gestured at another table where Luke and Kyp sat. "Master Skywalker checked on the transport as the first thing when he got back."

Tai nodded. "That's good. We leave tomorrow."

Corran poked at the grey stuff in his dish. "I think this stuff is looking back at me."

Matt slid into place next to T.K. "Hey."

"MATT!" T.K. threw his arms around Matt and hugged him. "I'm so happy you're back."

"Hey Matt." Tai reached across T.K. and slapped Matt on the back.

Matt glared at him. _Soon._

Sora looked across the table at Matt. "Nice to see you're okay Matt."

Matt smiled at her. "It's good to be back."

"You really scared me when you just fainted like that." Mimi slapped at him playfully. "If you gave me worry lines…"

Matt held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I give up. Obviously trying so hard I fall into a coma isn't good enough to win your approval."

Izzy looked apologetically at Corran. "I'm sorry Keiran, but we need to bring Matt up to speed. We'll talk fast." Izzy reached into his belt and flicked his translator off. Around the table Corran could see the others doing the same. He listened as the children spoke to each other in their strange language.

As Tai woke he felt something was wrong. He blinked a few times and looked around the room. He could see T.K. and Patamon curled up together under a thin blanket. In the other bed he could see the slumped shape of Matt. Something registered as wrong with the image.

_Where's Gabumon? _Tai rolled out of his bed, careful to miss the sleeping Agumon. He stumbled over to Matt's bed. "Hey Matt, wake up." When Matt did not move Tai put out a hand to shake him. The bedclothes gave in a way unnatural for a sleeping boy so Tai pulled off the blanket.

Underneath the blanket were Matt's clothes from home, shaped to give the appearance of a sleeping boy.

"Damn!" Tai walked to the door of the room and pulled the handle. It came off.

"Hey Tai, where'd Matt go?" Agumon moved next to his partner while using his clawed hands to rub sleep from his eyes.

"Beats me," replied Tai, "But it looks like our door was sabotaged." He pushed at the metal door. "I think something is blocking it."

T.K. came over, Patamon perched on his head. "Why's the door shut Tai?"

Tai backed up a few steps and threw his weight against the door. It did not move. "I'd say it's staying shut."

"What are we gonna do Tai? Where's Matt?" T.K. looked at the older boy with tears in his eyes.

Tai patted T.K's head absentmindedly. "Matt's gone somewhere with Gabumon, and there's nothing we can do. If Sora wakes up then maybe we have a chance. I'd don't have the ability to get anyone with telepathy and you only ever really had luck with Matt."

_TAI!!_

Tai's head snapped round. "Sora?" He then hit the side of his head. "Stupid." _Sora?_

_Tai! _Sora's voice sounded relived. _Tai, something's wrong with our door. Can you help us get out?_

_No can do. _Tai gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. _Someone's already shut us in too._ He thought a moment. _I bet Izzy and Joe have the same problem._

_No duh. _Izzy's voice joined in and sounded most annoyed. _Beyond the metal door is some non-conducting material._

_Looks like you're going to have to spring us T.K. _Joe sounded most worried. _Someone needs to move this stuff away from the doors._

_Nuh-uh. _T.K. shook his head. _I can only move stuff I see._

_We're screwed, _said Tai. He then paused. _T.K, you didn't here that. If Matt knew…_

_Wait a minute, _interrupted Izzy. _Matt isn't there?_

_Problem guys, _added Sora. _Matt was avoiding me yesterday. Every time I saw him, he had his shields up as far as they could go, but he was leaking all sorts of stuff._

_Like what? _asked Tai.

_Like he wanted you dead Tai._

Tai sat heavily on his bed. _No way. Matt and I don't always see eye to eye but…_

_Dead, Tai. Not quiet, not listening to him. Dead. Very graphically dead._

_So we know who locked us in, _supplied Izzy. _But the question remains, how do we get out?_

_Hang on guys, _asked Sora. She dropped out of the link, and a few moments later came back again. _Corran's trapped as well. It seems Exar Kun has made his move._

_We're doomed! _Tai could almost see Joe's mournful expression. _The Sith are going to come for us until we join them or die of starvation._

_I think this was planned guys, _added Izzy. _The food was so bad yesterday that no one ate it, so now our digimon can't digivolve and blast us out of here._

_And for that to happen, they had to have inside information, _said Tai grimly. _Looks like you're right. Matt's joined the bad guys._

_So now what? _asked Sora. _We can't get out of here to make our escape off this planet._

_Be ready to leave, _said Tai. _I bet anything that Feona and Doyle will come through and spring us._

"So, what's the plan?" asked Doyle.

"Plan?" Feona shrugged and reached for the landing cycle switch. "Keep an eye out for the kids. If we don't see them around, then we'll have to find them."

"How reliable is this source of General Antilles though? It can't be that bad, this is a Jedi stronghold." Doyle started to manipulate his own set of switches.

Feona snorted. "With the Sith involved? Don't count on it." She carefully lowered the _Blue Ray _to the forest clearing marked out as a landing zone. "I speak from experience."

Doyle shut down his panel. "We gearing up?"

Feona wrinkled her nose. "Concealed only. I just hope you're different enough that they can't scan you while you're here."

Doyle walked out the cockpit and to the weapons chest. "Just blades then?" He took out a vibroblade and sheath and strapped it to his forearm.

Feona reached across him and lifted out several more vibroblades. One ended up in a forearm sheath, one tucked in her boot and a third in the small of her back. "And I suppose I'll need this." She pulled her lightsabre out from its hidden compartment.

Doyle hit the ramp switch. "Let's get started. It'll take a while to offload all this cargo."

Doyle was feeling distinctly uneasy. Not only had he not seen any of the kids or their digimon, but also the dining hall was unusually quiet. Only the chink of cutlery was heard.

Luke slid into place beside him. "I found them." Next to him Matt and Gabumon sat.

"Matt," greeted Doyle.

"Doyle," greeted Matt back. "The others sent me to pass on a message." He sighed. "False alarm. Nothing was wrong, just my brother's hyperactive imagination." He started to attack his bowl of stew. "Anyway, they're real sorry they couldn't be here but Tai and Izzy are still doing drill and Mimi and Joe are off on survey duty."

Doyle pushed his bowl away. "I better go back and help Feona with those repairs she was doing." He walked out the hall and back down to the ground floor. He pulled out a comlink. "Feona?" All he got was the squeal of feedback.

He pocketed the comlink and began a slow circuit of the old landing bay that formed the lowest level of the temple. In the far corner he found one of the passages had been sealed off. He looked around for a suitable implement and found a length of pipe. He hefted it, then used it to tap on the sealed surface.

He briefly considered using Morse code, but realised that it was unlikely that whoever was being kept behind the wall knew of it. Instead he tapped once, paused, tapped twice, paused, tapped three times, paused…

_There! _He heard four taps faintly come though the plug in the wall. He tapped back five times to assure whoever was on the other side that they had been heard. He then dropped the pipe and came back to the exit of the bay. He jogged over to the _Blue Ray_.

He leant in close to Feona. "Found 'em."

Feona reached up from where she was lying on her back and used the hyperspanner on an innocuous looking pipe. "Well we can't go now, we'd be caught as they came back down from their meal."

"There's some sort of concert on tonight," supplied Doyle helpfully. "That white haired girl is performing a ballad or something. Rumour has it that she can sing for hours at a time."

Feona shook her head. "There will be someone keeping an eye on those kids. If they react like they're escaping then the whole Academy will come after them and us." She put the spanner down. "If we break them out we will have to do a fast retreat."

Doyle shrugged. "This is the only ship on-planet. I don't think we need to worry."

Feona stood up and dusted her hands off. "When does this concert start?"

"'Bout an hour."

Feona nodded. "We wait an hour and a half. Then we break them out."

"Keep a look out."

Doyle nodded and moved to the doorway. Behind him he heard the familiar _snap-hiss _of Feona's lightsabre igniting. A few moments later he heard something he didn't want to hear.

"Sithspit!"

"Nice to see you too," said a second voice.

Doyle turned and looked at the newcomer.

He held out a hand. "Corran Horn of Rogue Squadron."

Feona shut down her sabre and took his hand. "Feona Seacrest."

"I guess you are the crew of the supply run?" asked Corran. Once Feona had nodded he continued. "The kids are upstairs, sealed in their rooms. Except for one of them."

"Matt," guessed Doyle. "He was in the hall just a while ago."

Corran nodded. "He's turned to the Dark side and betrayed us." He faced Doyle directly. "Did he have a lightsabre?"

Doyle shut his eyes a moment in thought. "Yes. Very plain cylinder, black button."

"Damn!" Corran slapped the wall in frustration. "That's my grandfathers sabre. Kam took it off of me before throwing me in here."

Feona sighed. "New plan. Doyle, hand Captain Horn your blaster."

Doyle frowned, and then gave Corran his weapon and a spare clip.

"Now," continued Feona, "Go back to the ship, and get her ready for launch. We'll be coming out with a load of angry Jedi on our tails."

Doyle nodded. "I'll get the belly cannon up and running to cover you." He trotted to the hanger door, looked out carefully then started to run for the ship.

"I'll take point, it's up on the third level." Corran moved with an economy of movement to the door, suggesting that he had done much ground duty as well.

Feona followed behind, keeping an eye for anyone following them. "Watch out, there's some event on in the main hall."

Corran nodded. "Tionne is singing. Don't worry, we're going round." He climbed a flight of stairs. "Second on the left. I'll stay here and pick off anyone who comes up."

Feona nodded and hurried round the corner. There she saw three blocked entryways. _Sora? You in there?_

_Feona! _Sora sounded positively relieved. _We're stuck in here._

_Even worse, _added Izzy, _all the doors are locked. I can short them, but it will take time._

Feona gestured at the blocked entryways and the bricks flew out of the way. She then levelled her blaster and shot out the lock panels.

Izzy pushed his door open. "Or we could just shoot them. That works too."

Joe followed behind and passed Izzy a satchel. "Here, your stuff."

The other children filed out quickly.

"We have a problem," said Tai. "Matt isn't here."

Joe shook his head. "We should cut our losses and get out now while we still can."

"No!" T.K. grabbed at Tai's sleeve. "We have to get Matt. He doesn't know what he's doing."

Feona sighed. "He's made his decision. He's staying."

Tai shook his head. "He's my responsibility. I'll go knock some sense into him."

Izzy moved to stand next to him. "You'll need someone to watch your back." He swallowed. "I trust your judgement."

Tai nodded. "We're going to get him back. You all get clear."

"Just once I'd like it if one of my plans came to fruition," growled Feona. She trust Tai her lightsabre. "Matt's taken Corran's lightsabre. You'll need this." She turned to Izzy. "Here." She handed over her blaster and a spare clip. "If it gets too bad, grab the sabre and run like hell. We're out in front of the temple." She reached over and took their satchels. Then her gaze softened. "Don't be stupid, and don't get killed." She flicked her wrist and a holdout blaster sprung out into her hand. "Agumon, Tentomon, you're with us. Lets move." She led the line down the corridor at a brisk trot.

Corran stood up as they approached. "We're cutting it close."

"We're cutting it closer," replied Feona. "Tai is trying to talk some sense into Matt."

Corran shrugged. "Good luck. Might as well ask Nal Hutta to be an upstanding and respectable place." He started down the stairs at a run. "I've been picking up agitation. I think they're on to us." He stopped and checked the hanger. "All clear." He waved the children and digimon on ahead.

They crossed the ferocrete landing bay in a straight line and ran straight at the open landing ramp. At the top Doyle waited and made signs for them to hurry.

Sora realised why when blaster bolts started to fly past. _We could really use Izzy about now._

Mimi screamed and dropped to the ground in fear. Feona grabbed her and pulled her up. "Keep running!" She then looked up. "Doyle!"

Doyle started laying down covering fire from the hatch. As the kids arrived he ducked inside and flicked a switch. A compartment on the underside of the ship opened and a laser cannon swung out and opened fire. Joe made it to the hatch first, his long legs giving him the advantage. Behind him Bukamon floated in. Next Sora guarding T.K. with Patamon ran up. Biyomon hung back and started to fire her attack at the Jedi. Tentomon and Agumon joined her as Palmon ran into the open hatch. The digimon ran out of energy and returned inside. Lastly Feona and Corran entered, laying down suppression fire with Mimi between them.

As soon as they entered Doyle slammed his hand down on the fast seal for the door. "We're all safe, right?" He looked at how many children were there. "Hang on, there's three missing."

Feona nodded. "I want Corran in the lower turret. Pick off anyone who gets too close." Corran nodded and ran down the corridor. "Sora, you're our ears inside the temple. What you got?"

"Five people, everyone else is out in the hanger shooting at us."

Tai and Izzy moved silently into the main hall only to find they need not have bothered. Only Luke, Kam and Matt, with Gabumon at his side were there.

"So they come," intoned Luke. "But to join us, or to take you away?" He met Matt's gaze. "Back to inferiority, back to obscurity."

Matt shook his head. "I wont go back." He took the lightsabre off his belt and held it, powered down, by his side. "I won't bow down to you again." He looked around. "Where's T.K?"

"Safe," replied Tai. "Or at least, safe providing none of your friends shoot him."

Matt laughed. "You? Keep him safe?"

Izzy kept his blaster lowered. "This is not the place to discuss Tai's protection of T.K. This is the time to discuss why you locked us in our rooms."

"I didn't want you to leave." Matt gestured to Luke. "This man has taught me more that Luke Skywalker ever could."

"Er Matt," said Tai. "That is Luke Skywalker."

"Am I?" Luke asked. "Is all you have learnt is to trust your eyes first?"

Tai watched him carefully. "You don't move like Master Skywalker, you don't sound like him, and you don't act like him."

Izzy half raised his pistol. "Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…"

Exar Kun smiled cruelly. "So now you have one choice. Join me, or die."

Tai spat on the floor, not taking his eyes off Matt. "I don't like either of those choices."

Kun shrugged. "Then you die."

Matt nodded and ignited his lightsabre.

Tai did likewise and Izzy raised his blaster and sighted on Matt.

Matt laughed. "You hide behind Izumi? Very funny Tai, but I know what you want. You and me, one on one." He turned slightly. "My Master will not interfere, nor will Kam."

"Izzy, back down." Tai moved slightly to one side.

Izzy was incredulous. "Are you crazy Tai? How can we trust them?"

Tai fixed Matt with a steely gaze. "I trust Matt."

Izzy nodded reluctantly and lowered his blaster. He then reached behind his back and drained the energy out of the clip tucked behind his back. _Just because I'm not sighted on them doesn't mean I'm stupid._

Tai and Matt circled each other.

"Back here again?" asked Matt. "Still think you can take me?"

Tai watched him carefully. "I know I can take you."

Matt snarled and lunged, moving his sabre in a diagonal cut. Tai danced backwards and riposted, swinging his own sabre round in a half-crescent. Matt blocked in an odd move, holding the hilt of his sabre high with the blade pointing down. He then followed through by bringing the pommel up to hit across Tai's jaw.

Tai moved with the blow, using the momentum he generated to spin into a snap kick. Matt saw it coming and dived to the side, rolling over on his shoulder and back to his feet. He then used his lower position to slash at Tai's feet. Tai jumped up and back, gaining distance.

"What's the matter Tai?" taunted Matt. "You scared that I might be better than you?"

Tai advanced slowly. "What's wrong with you Matt? Can't you see how weird you're acting??"

"I'm weird?" asked Matt, making a grandiose gesture towards himself. "I've just refused to roll over and play dead like Izumi and Sora and all the others."

Tai took advantage of Matt's divided attention and moved in swinging at Matt's midsection. Matt batted it away but ignored the opportunity to riposte.

"What would you know about what Izzy and Sora think?" asked Tai. "I never considered mind reading to be one of your _many _tricks."

"Ha!" barked Matt. "This from the guy who's worse at telepathy than I am." He swung wide. "But what would I know about anything, right? That's why you never listen, because I'm never right. Well I damn well am right this time. I'm doing what the hell I want for a change, and me and T.K. don't need you any more."

Tai made a few trial lunges, probing Matt's defence. "Well I've got news for you Matt. T.K. doesn't need a brother who's prepared to bend so easily to evil's side."

"Evil?" asked Matt. "Good and Evil is defined by the winners. If the Sith had won would this still be evil?"

"Consider this then Matt. What does your heat say?" Tai then stepped forwards quickly and brought round his sabre pommel to Matt's temple. Matt, too caught up in self-analysis, made no move to block and dropped like a stone.

Izzy quickly swung his blaster up as Kam started forwards. "Don't move."

Tai picked up Matt's fallen sabre and switched it off. "You're too thick skulled for your own good," he said to Matt's prone form. He then turned. "Let's go Izzy. Matt has to work this out for himself."

"Tai?" asked Izzy. "You can't be serious!"

Tai nodded. "I am serious. Matt doesn't want to be talked out of it." He turned to Kun. "But don't think that we won't be back. We'll kick your sorry ass off this planet, and your bat friend is data dust."

Kun kept his fixed half smile as first Tai, then Izzy backed out of the room.

Tai led the way up the stairs. "Izzy, get Sora. Tell her we'll meet on the roof." Izzy nodded and backed into a niche in the wall closing his eyes. A moment later they snapped open again.

"We're set." He turned his head slightly. "Sounds like company is coming."

Tai nodded. "I'd rather avoid them." He started climbing the stairs. "So, the plan?"

Izzy shrugged. "Light up and wave them around. Then they'll takeoff and we jump for it."

"And I thought this would be hard," joked Tai.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought that you hated laying Matt out on the floor."

Tai waved a hand. "Matt can't be made to change his mind. He has to do it himself."

Izzy stopped walking. "I think you may have actually thought something through for once." He turned and lobbed a ball of electrical energy down the staircase. "I hope that scares them off a bit."

"Come on," said Tai, continuing his climb.

They traversed another flight in silence, then Tai stepped out into the sunlight followed by Izzy.

Tai moved to the edge of the roof and waved his sabre around. "Hey guys!"

Izzy joined him as the _Blue Ray _rose up and opened the lower hatch. "After you Tai."

Tai nodded and leapt, easily making the fourteen-foot leap with the aid of the Force.

Izzy likewise leapt across, then hit the retract button. He followed Tai into the passenger area.

First to greet them was T.K.

"Where's Matt?"

Tai shook his head. "No good. He wouldn't listen." He hit the wall in frustration. "Exar Kun has twisted his problems into blaming me."

Sora shook her head. "Matt isn't stupid. When he stops to think he'll realise that Kun is wrong."

"If he stops to think," added Joe. "Matt can be stubborn when he wants."

"He's impossible." Tai started to pace. "All we can do is hope he joins us."

"I have something to add," said Izzy. "Matt knows about the sabres. He'll go after his as soon as he can get transport."

Tai shrugged. "The supply runs will have been stopped, so where will they get transport?"

"They have friends." Feona entered the room. "The Imps from the planet you arrived knew you'd be there. They were hired to capture you."

Corran followed her in. "That gives us two days before they arrive."

"But then where?" asked Feona.

Izzy raised a tentative hand. "I may know." He pulled out a list from his belt. "Seven planets, seven lightsabres, only the right child can claim each sabre."

Corran raised an eyebrow. "And which planets would they be?"

"Bespin, Endor, Hoth, Mon Calamari, Mrlsst, Tanaab, and Tatooine."

Corran stroked his beard. "Bespin holds Cloud City, Endor is full of trees and Ewoks, Hoth is a snowball, Mon Cal is mostly ocean, Mrlsst is a university…"

Izzy snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" The others looked on confused. "Bespin must be where Sora's sabre is. Cloud City for someone who has bird digimon. Endor is Mimi, nature personified." He indicated Palmon. "Hoth is Matt, Mon Calamari is Joe, Mrlsst must be mine…"

"I don't understand," interrupted Corran. "Izzy's digimon are all insects."

"But my crest is Knowledge. And what place better embodies knowledge than a university?" Izzy looked at the last two planets on the list. "Tanaab and Tatooine?"

"Farmland and desert. T.K. and Tai," finished Corran. "We have four, maybe five days until Matt reaches Hoth."

"So what?" asked Mimi. "We can get there first."

Joe shook his head. "We need the sabres. If Matt gets his first, it wont be pretty."

"That reminds me," said Tai. He unhooked the two sabres from his belt and handed them back to their respective owners.

Feona moved back towards the cockpit. "We're changing hyperspace course in a few moments. After that would you like to use the navicomp Corran to work out a way to do all this in four days." Feona entered the cockpit and sat in her chair. "How long to re-entry?"

"Thirty," replied Doyle, checking his instruments. "I've got the packet ready to launch."

"Cancel that," said Feona. "We need to ask for personnel at specific locations."

Doyle nodded and hit the wipe button. "Ten seconds to reversion."

The counter came to zero and Doyle threw the lever.

"Our luck goes from bad to worse," commented Feona as a Star Destroyer loomed.

Corran looked out the window. "Don't worry, I know the captain."

"Oh," said Doyle. "And as despots go, is he nice?"

"He's my father-in-law." Corran walked to a panel and hit the comswitch. "Hey Booster!"

"Cor Sec?" came the static broken reply. "What the hell are you doing here instead of looking after my daughter?"

"Let us in and I'll tell you."

"Feona Seacrest, meet Booster Terrik."

Feona and Booster shook hands.

"Nice to finally meet you," said Feona. "You have a well deserved reputation as a trader."

Booster nodded. "Thank you." He turned to Corran. "So where is Mirax?"

Corran shrugged. "I don't know. She was last seen tracking down the Invids. I'm trying to find her."

Booster raised an eyebrow. "And the reason you are all in dressing gowns?"

"We're Jedi," replied Corran.

Booster started to laugh. "You? A Jedi? Leading a pack of Jedi children?" He kept laughing. He then sobered. "But what of Mirax? How long has she been missing while you've been playing Jedi?"

"Five or so weeks." Corran looked Booster straight in the eye. "I felt this was the best way to find her."

"Did you now?" asked Booster. "And what's been happening to her while you've been playing magician? Answer me that!"

"I don't know, but I decided to do this. She is my wife."

"And _my _daughter!" Booster fumed.

Corran poked him in the chest. "She used the _Errant Venture_ as a base of operations, didn't she?"

Booster slapped Corran's hand aside. "And what if she did?"

"Then it's your responsibility as well."

Booster took a deep breath and turned away. "So what can I do for you, Captain Seacrest?"

Feona stepped forwards. "Passage to Tatooine and Mrlsst with some traders."

Booster stroked his chin. "And what will I get in return for this?"

Feona laughed. "You're already making a fortune off of my docking fees. What else do you want?"

"Twenty percent of your next ten runs."

"Done," agreed Feona.

Booster blinked. "That was too easy."

"Yes," grinned Feona. "Now lets get these kids gone."

The children, now in civilian clothes, and their digimon stood in the docking bay.

"Well this is goodbye," said Tai.

Sora hugged Mimi. "Take care."

Mimi hugged back. "You too Sora."

"I still don't like us all splitting up."

Gomamon prodded Joe's foot. "Oh lighten up Joe. We're going swimming!"

Feona entered, followed by a tall man with a two-tone goatee and a Rodian. "You ready?"

Tai nodded. "Who with who?"

Feona gestured at the Rodian. "This is Captain Trigex. He's taking you and T.K. to Tatooine." She gestured at the other man. "This is Talon Karrde. Izzy, Mimi, he's your ride."

Karrde knelt and took Mimi's hand. "Ah, fair maid, how fortuitous I was in the area."

Mimi giggled and Izzy rolled his eyes.

Feona dished out data pads to Tai and Izzy. "Here's where to meet your guides. Be careful, don't trust anyone."

The kids again engaged in a round of hugs, then each trailed after their assigned Captain.

Joe turned to Feona. "So what about us?"

Feona smiled slightly. "You're with me. Mon Calamari was my old stomping ground." She led them up the ramp.

Sora looked around. "What about Corran?"

"He's going after the Invids." Feona sealed the hatch. "They don't stand a chance."

Authors notes:- Ack… this ain't so good, is it? Well the next six chapters will be one-shots, one for each sabre. Also, Izzy will start to realise what the prophecy means.

Anyone desperate to find out what happens to Corran (Who will not appear again) Go find a copy of I Jedi by Mike Stackpole.

Anyone willing to write out what happens in the third book of the JA3 and email (fmb105@york.ac.uk) it to me?(Never read it you see)

To Digikitty-1.Don't nag, 2. Giving out your home address on a review anyone can access is just pure stupidity. I _have _spread my email address around, which would be safer. (Plus I can't afford the international stamps)

To Victor Pesola-There you go, Talon Karrde, as asked for. He'll be back for the start of the next chapter. I needed a Captain anyway and he fitted the job nicely.

To Yamatofoverver-Close, but no cigar. Izzy hasn't done much thinking of late because of Exar Kun's plans. The idea is that he's being really distracted.

I don't think that Matt is evil really either, he's just very blinkered and doesn't always think things through. He also has a stubborn streak a mile wide.


	14. Mrlsst-A Shocking Experience

Izzy smiled as he toggled through the displays on the data pad. _Thanks Feona. _The pad contained various bits of data on the hyperdrive engines of the spaceships, some cultural information, and a wealth of scientific diagrams and formulae. He worked his way through it, absorbing the information and making notes on his laptop, trying to ignore Mimi's giggling from where she and Talon Karrde were talking.

_If it wasn't for saving Matt I'd have refused to go with Mimi entirely. _Izzy cringed as Mimi giggled her high-pitched laugh again. _We just don't get on too well._

"You're so funny," laughed Mimi. "Not like all those other freighter captains."

Karrde smiled. "It helps when the lady is as charming as you are." He got up and sketched a bow. "Unfortunately we will be dropping out of hyperspace shortly and landing on Mrlsst. I must return to the cockpit."

"So soon?" asked Mimi, batting her eyelashes. Karrde laughed and left the room.

Izzy tucked the datapad into his backpack and closed the lid of his laptop. "We should prepare for reversion to realspace." He stowed his gear away, then sat in one of the chairs and fastened the safety harness.

Mimi _humph_ed. "If I didn't know better I'd say you didn't like me Izzy." She likewise sat, Palmon on her lap.

Izzy sighed. "Whether I like you or not is immaterial Mimi. We have a long and difficult task ahead of us and I would rather it was completed as quickly as possible."

Mimi's eyes wobbled for a moment, then she started to cry. "How can you say that you don't like me?" she asked.

Palmon glared at Izzy. "Don't you ever think before you open your mouth?"

Izzy's mouth worked open and shut a few times. "I didn't say anything of the sort Mimi. I just commented that I wished to get our task done in as efficient manner as possible."

Tentomon put one taloned appendage on Izzy's knee. "But just think how it sounded Izzy."

"It was a logical statement without emotional content." Izzy shrugged. "I see no reason why you should take offence Mimi, or read something into it that obviously wasn't there."

Mimi started to cry louder. "How can you say you hate me?"

"Wha?" Izzy looked totally confused. "Mimi, you're making no sense." Suddenly he felt something tugging at him. "Mimi, could you be quiet a moment?" he asked, his voice conveying some urgency.

"No I will not!" Mimi stamped a foot. "You are mean to me, you ignore me, well no more!"

Izzy sighed. "I'm sorry you perceived my statement as criticism, it was not intended as such."

Mimi _humph_edand turned her head away. "I don't believe you. I'm not talking to you until you apologise."

Izzy sighed and closed his eyes. He found it harder for some reason to reach out to the Force. _Maybe we act as a kind of reinforcement to each other in close proximity. _It was like an itch at the base of his skull almost. A feeling like he had forgotten some piece of information and would only remember it when he saw something familiar. "Intriguing."

"What's intriguing Izzy?" asked Tentomon.

Izzy shook his head slightly. "It feels like there's something just out of reach. It doesn't seem unreasonable that this is the supposed trace that the lightsabre leaves for each of us." He turned to Mimi. "Do you sense anything?"

Mimi's brow wrinkled in concentration, then unfurrowed. "I don't sense anything unusual Izzy, and I just remembered I'm not talking to you anymore!" She turned to face the wall again.

Izzy looked at Tentomon and Palmon. "This is going to be a long trip."

The two digimon nodded.

Izzy looked around the small spaceport. He could see no sign of their guides and behind him he could feel the back draft of the _Wild Karrde _taking off. Most of the people here were of the planets native species, with a short stature, a somewhat triangular head with tufted feathers in place of hair, and large bulbous eyes. Here and there, where he could see people gesturing, he noted three digit hands.

"So where are they?" whined Mimi. "I thought they'd be here."

Izzy shrugged. "They're busy people. I was personally surprised that they deemed this important enough to help us, rather than attack the problem directly."

"Oh." Mimi scanned the spaceport again. "So who _are _our guides Izzy?"

Izzy blinked. "I thought I told you."

Tentomon shook his head. "You muttered about it while Captain Karrde was teaching her a card game."

Mimi _humph_ed again.

Izzy rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear to you Mimi, but you never really showed much of an interest." He scanned the crowd, then pointed off in a direction slightly to his left. "There they are."

Mimi looked carefully. "Isn't that Leia? And General Ankles?"

Izzy sighed and started to move towards them. "Councillor Organa-Solo and General _Antilles_," he corrected Mimi, "are here because they both have unique insight into where we are going." He was met half way by Leia and Wedge.

Wedge held out a hand. "Good to see you made it off Yavin. I'd hate to think we were fighting a kid as smart as you."

Izzy took it and shook it, hoping that was the correct response. "Thank you sir. But I am at a loss to explain why you and Councillor Organa-Solo were chosen to accompany us. Surely such high ranking members of the Republic…"

Leia shook her head. "My brother is at stake here as well as your friend. I'm happy to help you if it means I'll have a chance to fight for my brother's safe return."

"And the Princess needs a body guard," added Wedge. "Qwi… Dr. Xux," he corrected himself, "felt that I would serve better at Leia's side rather than hers."

Leia patted Wedge's arm. "Don't sell yourself short Wedge. You're familiar with this planet and you're one of the few Hoth veterans still with us."

Izzy's brow wrinkled. "I'm still not sure that it was wise for you to accompany us Councillor. We have no idea who Exar Kun will mobilise to stop us, or what digimon Myotismon will send."

Leia scowled. "I was involved, _actively _involved in the Rebellion before I was twenty. I know how to look after myself." She nodded to Wedge. "Plus I too am a Hoth survivor, although I didn't fly against the walkers as Wedge did."

Izzy bowed. "I apologise. I did not mean to insinuate that you were not capable of defending yourself."

Wedge grinned. "The reason we were sent to you was because I've been here before and both Leia and I were at Hoth and Endor."

Izzy nodded and focused on a point somewhere in the middle distance. "The only man to survive two Death Star runs. Also the leader of Rogue Squadron, an elite squadron for ten years until your promotion to General forced you away from active duty." His eyes refocused on Wedge. "Quite a record."

"Quite a memory," countered Wedge. "You didn't know any of this when we met before."

Izzy shrugged self depreciatingly. "I'm a fast learner." He adjusted the strap of his backpack. "I hate to nag, but can we please begin? This is not a comfortable state to be in."

Wedge frowned. "I don't understand."

"I do," interrupted Leia. "It's the sabre isn't it?"

Izzy nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Leia laughed. "Call me Leia. I'm here _incognito _so brandishing my title about defeats the object." She led the way out of the spaceport. "It's early evening here now. We can't do anything until tomorrow."

Wedge pointed at a large building across the way. "We have rooms in the Grand Hotel." He grinned at Leia. "I can't wait to see the shuffling that goes on to see which department foots the bill."

Mimi let out a delighted squeal. "It's beautiful!"

Izzy frowned lightly. "The architecture seems to be in the classical style from Europe on Earth."

Wedge shrugged. "This style occurs in almost all human cultures in our universe. Perhaps it is the same for you." He moved forwards. "I'll get the keys, you stay out here."

Leia nodded and moved the bag she had slung across her shoulder slightly to a more comfortable position.

Mimi sat as Leia braided the younger girls hair.

"My mother used to do this for me when I was younger." Leia smiled slightly, remembering better times. "I hope to do this for my daughter when she's older."

Mimi half turned in her seat. "You have a daughter?"

Leia took Mimi's shoulders and turned her back towards the mirror. "Hold still or the braid will end up over one ear."

"Sorry."

Leia continued braiding. "She's called Jaina. She's a little over two years old now." She stroked Mimi's hair slightly. "She doesn't have very long hair yet." She used one final pin to hold the braid in place on the top of Mimi's head. "There. Done."

Mimi turned her head to and fro, examining her reflection in the mirror. "It's very pretty. How do you manage to do it on yourself?"

Leia laughed. "Practise." She moved away from Mimi, to the tray holding food that room service had brought up earlier. Palmon was already happily munching away at it. Leia delicately picked up some sort of fruit that resembled an apple and took a bite.

Mimi picked up a glass of fruit juice and sat on her bed. "He never did apologise."

Leia swallowed before answering. "Who?"

"Izzy," supplied Palmon. "He and Mimi have a long history of not getting on."

"Really?" asked Leia. "He seems polite to a fault."

Mimi made a frustrated sound. "I don't think he notices me. He'd rather poke at that computer of his."

Leia tried to stifle a laugh. "You _like _him."

Mimi blushed. "So what if I do?"

Leia shook her head. "Love is a wonderful thing Mimi, if it's the right person. Otherwise it becomes cold and jealous." She sat next to Mimi. "Why do you like him?"

"He's cute." Mimi turned her head at an angle. "I like the way his hair and his eyes work together. I like the fact that he's shorter than me so he doesn't boss me around."

Leia shook her head. "Then you don't like _him_, you just like your image of him."

Mimi grinned lopsidedly. "But he and I would look good together."

Palmon shook her head. "But Mimi, looks aren't everything." She drank some water before continuing. "Even the ugliest seed can become a pretty flower. You shouldn't judge on first appearances."

Leia nodded sagely. "That only leads to trouble." She leant against the wall. "Let me tell you about how my husband and I first met, and what a bad first impression _he _made…"

Wedge had showered, eaten, made a few calls, and started reviewing some reports from Tycho on Rogue Squadron. All this time Izzy had remained cross-legged on his bed typing on that strange machine of his.

"Okay, what's with the silent treatment?"

Izzy looked up, his fingers still flying across the keyboard. "What silent treatment?"

Wedge sighed. "Other than agreeing who gets each bed you haven't said a word to me." He rapped lightly on the back of Izzy's screen. "Is what you're working on so fascinating that you can't make idle talk?"

Izzy slowly and deliberately shut the lid on his laptop. "And what do you suggest we talk about?"

Tentomon flew up to sit beside Izzy. "Stop being so standoffish Izzy. Wedge is just trying to be nice."

 "Sorry. Being trapped with Mimi has left me somewhat… cranky." Izzy reached up and massaged the bridge of his nose.  "And this," he waved his hands vaguely, "Vibration that the lightsabre is giving off isn't improving my mood much."

Wedge patted his shoulder in what he hoped was a soothing manner. "Don't worry, we'll find it tomorrow, then hopefully your headache will stop."

Izzy shrugged. "I doubt the root cause will be removed though."

"What, Mimi?" asked Tentomon, slightly puzzled.

Izzy nodded. "She just… aggravates me I guess. She doesn't seem to consider anyone else except herself and she doesn't listen to me or even acknowledge I exist unless I've done something to upset her."

"Ah." Wedge nodded. "I've met people like that." He sat next to Izzy. "I stayed at the rank of Commander for a long time. Many generals considered therefore that I knew nothing, despite my having served as commander of the best squadron in the Alliance and usually been in service longer than they had." He shrugged. "I just ignored them. _I _knew that what they thought about me was wrong, so I just talked to those who did know how capable I was and hoped that those others would realise the error of their ways."

Izzy shook his head. "It's not that. It's just it sometimes seems like I was supposed to have done something for her and because I hadn't, she just got mad."

Tentomon put a talon on Izzy's knee. "But that time at the temple you did annoy her for a reason."

Izzy looked slightly embarrassed. "It was important."

"More important than your friends?" asked Wedge.

"But my friends weren't there!" argued Izzy. He then stopped. "Oh."

Wedge nodded. "You don't think of Mimi as one of your friends, just as an annoyance."

Izzy slumped slightly. "I find it hard to make friends. With Mimi, it didn't really seem like she would understand me half the time so I never really tried."

Wedge nodded again. "Now you know where your blind spot is, what are you going to do about it?"

Izzy shrugged. "Try to correct the fault I suppose. Be more attentive to her needs."

"But don't be a pushover," warned Wedge. "Mimi strikes me as the type of person who would twist your good will to her own ends."

Izzy shot Wedge a level gaze. "You're more perceptive than I first gave you credit for General. I can see why your name is a cause for alarm to the Empire."

Wedge waved his hands in a dismissive gesture. "Call me Wedge. Everyone does, even my pilots."

Wedge looked up from his seat in the park to see Leia, Mimi and Palmon approaching. "All set for the hunt?"

Leia nodded. "Ready and willing."

Izzy got up from his seat next to Wedge. "It's in this direction." He started to walk off, following the instinctive pull of whatever marker had been set up by the Jedi that had hidden the sabre. The others followed him, making little conversation so as not to distract the young boy from his goal.

Eventually Izzy stopped. "What is that?" He pointed at a small circle of burnt grass that was cordoned off from the main path and surrounded by armed guards.

"Is that where the sabre is?" asked Mimi.

Izzy shook his head. "No, but it's resonating with the sabre somehow."

Wedge smiled. "I think I know why." He gestured at the burnt circle. "This is where a great Jedi was killed by the Empire. He gave himself up so that the University would be spared."

Nearby one of the guards nodded. "That's right. That's the spot where Taj Junak surrendered. They burnt him down where he stood. Nothing ever grew on that spot again."

Wedge thanked the man for the information, then signalled that the group should move back. "I'm guessing that this Taj Junak was the one who hid the lightsabre."

Izzy nodded. "A viable hypothesis." He shut his eyes momentarily. "The source is not far from here." He opened his eyes and started to move forwards again.

Wedge shuddered slightly. "No offence to you Leia, or your brother, but this Jedi stuff makes my skin crawl."

Leia patted Wedge's arm. "If its any consolation, this is as odd to me as it is to you. I don't feel anything out of place."

Izzy walked on for another three blocks, Tentomon buzzing ever at his shoulder, until he came to the front of an imposing building.

"It's in there."

Wedge raised an eyebrow. "I recognise this place. This is the building where the President entertains important functions and discussions." He gestured at the two guardsmen standing by the door. "I don't think it's open to the public."

Leia strode forwards confidently. "Well we'll just have to go in on business." She approached the main door and a guard moved to stop her. "Let me pass."

The guard shook his head. "Sorry madam, this area is off limits to anyone who doesn't have a pass."

Leia stood and glared at him. "I am Councillor Organa-Solo and I demand to be let in."

The guard shook his head again. "Sorry lady, I've got orders."

Izzy whispered something to Mimi, then handed over his telephone card.

Mimi stepped forwards. "Here's my I.D. These three are my assistants." Into the man's mind she projected an image that the telephone card she showed him was a legitimate item of identification.

The man gave it a cursory glance and Mimi blocked the memory of Leia just trying to bluff her way in.

The guard straightened. "You may enter Lady Mimi."

Mimi snapped her fingers in what she hoped was a commanding way and stalked into the building. Wedge and Leia exchanged glances then followed behind, with Izzy and the two digimon bringing up the rear.

Once out of earshot of the guards Mimi gave a sigh of relief. "Here Izzy." She passed him back his phone card.

Izzy grinned at her. "Good job Mimi."

Mimi blushed. "Well you thought of it."

Wedge frowned. "_Lady _Mimi?"

Mimi giggled. "Well I wanted to sound important enough that they'd let me in."

Leia smiled. "Well it worked great." She turned to Izzy. "Now where?"

Izzy frowned. "This way." He moved down the main hall and took one of the turning to the left. He then led them down a further corridor, and stopped in front of a door. "It's somewhere below this room."

Wedge shrugged and knocked.

A Mrlsst native answered the door and it would have been harder to say who was more surprised. "Captain Antilles!"

"Gyr Keela!" Wedge grinned and extended a hand to the little alien. "It's been a long time. Are you still President?"

Keela grinned and waggled a finger. "_Tsi_- I'm either the President, or in trouble for invading his office." He extended a hand to Leia. "And who is this lovely lady? _Tsi? _And the others?"

"Leia," she replied, likewise holding out her hand and allowing Keela to shake it.

Mimi giggled. "I'm Mimi Tachikawa."

Izzy bowed. "Koushiro Izumi," he said distractedly, his eyes still roaming the walls of Keela's office. He then stopped and pointed. "That panel there."

"_Tsi?_"

Wedge frowned. "Are you sure? We don't want to damage anything if we don't have to."

Izzy moved forwards and put a hand against the wall. "I'm sure."

Wedge drew his blaster and prepared to shoot out the wall when a large purple symbol began to glow on it. "What _is_ that?" The glow grew stronger until everyone in the room had to shield their eyes. When Wedge and the others lowered them they discovered that the wall had disappeared, leaving a passage revealed.

Keela hopped from foot to foot nervously. "_Tsi_! How did you do that?"

Izzy eyed the hole nervously. "I think I'm the only one meant to enter." He patted the top of Tentomon's carapace. "Sorry Tento, but you'd better stay up here." Izzy looked at Mimi, Leia, and Wedge, then squared his shoulders and walked confidently into the darkness.

Wedge turned to Mimi. "What was that purple thing that glowed?"

"That was Izzy's Crest, the symbol of Knowledge." Mimi sat down with her back against the wall. "And now we're stuck waiting for him," she sulked.

Wedge turned to Keela, who seemed to be _tsi_ing himself into an apoplectic fit. "Calm down Mister President."

"_Tsi? _Calm down? _Tsi tsi! _My wall just vanished! _Tsi!_" Keela started to pace. "I demand to know what you and your squadron are up to this time Captain Antilles! _Tsi!_"

Wedge held up his hands in what he hoped was a placating gesture. "Firstly, it's not Captain, it's General. Secondly my squadron is not involved in this. As to what we're up to…" Wedge made a kind of _help me! _gesture to Leia.

Leia came forward and laid a calming hand on Keela's arm. "We're here on a mission. Those two children are Jedi and they came to collect something."

"_Tsi?_"

Wedge nodded. "We think your ghost Jedi came to Mrlsst to hide it." He motioned at the hole. "Sorry about the mess."

Izzy moved down the passage as it followed a downwards corkscrew. _I wonder how far the bottom is? _He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. _Is it the cold, _he wondered, _Or is it, as I suspect, residual electric charge from whatever I'm about to face? _He moved though another two turns before stopping at the entrance to a room. _This must be it, _he thought to himself. He looked up at the ceiling. _That looks like the sort of ball placed on a Van-de-Graf generator. With the metal walls this place is obviously one huge death trap!_

He moved forwards and, as if triggered by his very presence, the ball in the ceiling began to discharge bolts at the walls and floor. More often than not, it would strike a metal plinth in the centre of the room. From the illumination each bolt gave it was clear that there was something on the plinth.

_That must be my lightsabre, _thought Izzy. He looked around the room. _Obviously this room was designed so that only Jedi with a high affinity for manipulating electrical energy can survive. _Izzy lent against one of the walls of the corridor and sent his sense out into the room. _No off-switch. I knew they wouldn't make this easy._

Izzy carefully considered what he saw. _I estimate about ten metres to the plinth. About three metres from it I become the highest point in the room and as such the best target for the bolts. The potential difference between the sphere and the walls must be in excess of a thousand volts. The bolts are generated because the difference in potential causes…_

Izzy dragged his brain back to the point in hand. _It's like that children's rhyme,_ he mused. _Can't go over it, can't go under it, have to go through it._ He slowly tried to put his fears aside and connect to the Force as much as possible. Slowly, he could sense where a bolt would hit before it would discharge.

_It's now or never._

Izzy slowly moved out into the room, dodging where the bolts were going to strike before stopping just outside the three-metre radius. _I need to put aside my fear, and trust the Force, _Izzy thought to himself. He slowly took a deep breath and moved forwards. 

The first bolt to hit him he deflected away easily, but the second came close on it's tail, and then a third, and a fourth, each bolt coming faster than the last. Izzy screamed in pain as he started to be unable to shunt the energy pouring into him away fast enough.

_This isn't fair! _he thought to himself, dropping to one knee. _This isn't a test, it's an execution._ He took a deep breath and tried to find his centre again.

Unbidden Luke's voice, from the first lesson he'd had came back to him. '_The Force is more about feeling and moving on instinct than thinking._'

Izzy stopped thinking about what he was doing with the Force, and let the Force choose it's own path. Slowly the pain lessened until Izzy felt strangely dislocated from the world. He could feel the Force all around him, moving in it's own currents without his interference. He walked forwards to the pedestal, lightning flickering over his skin.

As his fingers closed around the lightsabre hilt the lightning stopped as suddenly as it started. Izzy relaxed. "Score one for the good guys."

He turned suddenly as he heard a familiar whine, the same sound but much more intense than when one of the training remotes gathered it's charge to fire.

"Uh-oh."

Wedge looked up as the lights in Keela's office started to flicker. "What's going on?"

Mimi hugged her knees to her chest. "Izzy's powers are electric, so whatever is down there is going to be using electricity to attack him."

Keela moved to the computer terminal built into his desk. "The whole district it suffering. Whatever is attacking your friend is taking a lot of energy to do it _tsi._"

Tentomon started to hop from foot to foot. "Ow! Ow! Make it stop!"

Leia looked concerned. "What is it Tentomon?"

The bug digimon continued to hop from foot to foot. "Izzy is getting hurt by energy."

"We're all linked to our partners," explained Palmon. "Izzy must be accidentally sending energy through his digivice."

"EEEEeeeee!" squeaked Tentomon. He then stopped hopping, and the lights in the office stabilised.

"I think it's stopped," supplied Wedge. Then all the lights went out and stayed out. "Or not," he added.

Tentomon screamed in the darkness.

Izzy knew he'd never make it out in time before the whatever it was discharged, so he curled into a ball to present a smaller surface area and threw himself back into the Force.

Almost an instant later he felt fire across every part of his back and the parts of his arms facing outwards as they covered his head. He screamed even as the Force diverted most of the deadly energy away from his body.

Slowly he realised that it had stopped, even though the pain remained across his back. He carefully uncurled, wincing as the much-abused skin on his back relaxed. He saw the lightsabre hilt glowing a dull red next to him.

_I survived. Barely._ He moved an arm up, the skin protesting as it pulled. He found the parts of the sleeve that had faced the storm were charred beyond recognition, leaving him with only strips of fabric for sleeves. He tore off one of the sleeves and used it to protect his hand enough so he could pick up his still red-hot sabre. He then stood and shakily made his way back up the slope.

As he moved further on he found his mind wandering. _I'm going into shock, _he realised. He found it harder and harder to put one foot in front of another, and the pain from his back and arms growing worse and worse. _Please let me get to the top, _he silently begged.

He slipped and lost his footing. _What fool levelled out the slope? _he wondered. _How will I ever reach the top now?_ He then noticed that someone had caught him, because he did not hit the ground.

"I made it?" he croaked out.

A blur that could have been either Leia or Mimi loomed over him.

"Don't worry Izzy," said the blur, "We'll get you to a hospital."

Izzy passed out.

Leia let Wedge take Izzy's prone form in his arms. The boy moaned as Wedge's arms touched his burnt back, but remained unconscious.

"Izzy," breathed Mimi, almost in tears.

Leia picked up the still hot lightsabre by the rag that she presumed used to be part of Izzy's sleeve. "We need to get him out of here."

Wedge nodded. "Can you call for an ambulance President Keela?"

The little alien nodded and worked his datapad. "If that boy faced all the electrical energy that was shunted away from the region, then it's a miracle he's still alive."

Wedge started to the door, Izzy still in his arms. "I'll go meet the ambulance," he said. He then looked at the stricken Tentomon. "Are you coming Tento?" he asked, remembering the abbreviated name Izzy had called the digimon. Tentomon nodded dejectedly and followed Wedge out of the room.

Leia turned to Keela. "I'm sorry President Keela, I'll pay for damages to your wall…" She trailed off as she noticed the hole had once again been replaced by the same panelling as the rest of the office.

"_Tsi?_" Keela was as clearly confused by the matter as she was.

Leia shrugged and followed after Wedge, a very worried Mimi and Palmon following in her wake.

Matt traded furious blows with Kyp, moving faster and faster until he was sure he was a blur. He let his anger feed his strength and numb his pain. He'd lost track of time somewhere around the sixth hour he had been fighting, and he'd done three hours worth of drill before that.

He felt a bead of perspiration move from his temple, past his jaw line and down his bare chest. _The only way I'll beat Kyp is if my rage is fiercer than his._

Matt envisioned it was Tai he was facing and summoned up every iota of hatred against his nemesis. Slowly he beat Kyp back until the other apprentice slipped over in exhaustion. Matt brought his practise sabre up in preparation for a deathblow.

"Hold!"

Matt looked up, shaking with muscle fatigue, at Kam.

The older Jedi came down from the higher vantage point that he had used to observe the training of the two star pupils of Exar Kun. He drew his hand back and hit Matt in the face.

Matt made no effort to block, knowing that worse reprisals would follow if he did.

"Sloppy," said Kam. "You took far too long to take him. Why did you not use your best tool first?"

Matt tried to even out his breathing. "I… I… Anger leads to the dark…"

He was interrupted by Kam again hitting him. "You have been told the truth. There is no Dark side." He gestured for Kyp to rise. "Again."

Matt shook his head. "We've been at this for hours."

Kam hit him a third time. "You will be at this until you get it _right_. Now, again!"

Matt struggled to bring his practise sabre up. He then snarled at his own weakness. _Tai would still be fresh. Well I'll show him! _Matt focused on his anger; let it feed his tired and aching muscles.

With a primal scream he attacked Kyp.

Matt fell out of the world until he found himself again poised over Kyp's sprawled form.

He heard Kam's slow applause. "Well done. You are ready."

Matt lowered his arms, his strength ebbing away. "Ready for what?"

Kam grinned humourlessly. "You must both face a trial to be called Jedi Knights." He turned to Kyp. "You must retrieve the Sun Crusher and free your brother."

Kyp nodded solemnly. "I will not rest until it is done."

Kam nodded and turned to Matt. "You must retrieve your own lightsabre from where it was hidden on Hoth by our enemies. You will meet resistance there. Are you ready?"

Matt nodded. "Not even the force of an exploding star could stop me."

Izzy was happy to see that Mimi looked visibly relieved when he stepped into the waiting room.

"Izzy!" Mimi ran over to him and threw her arms around him.

Izzy winced as her arms brushed over newly healed skin. "Careful Mimi." Mimi withdrew looking unhappy. Izzy immediately remembered what Wedge had told him. "Sorry Mimi. I'm happy to see you, it's just that I'm still a little sore."

Tentomon flew over and landed at Izzy's feet. "You sure had me worried there Izzy. Don't you ever do anything like that again!"

Izzy grinned and knelt so that he was on a level with his partner. "I'll try not to Tento. I only had one lightsabre to find after all."

Leia joined them. "Here's your lightsabre." A smile played at the corner of her mouth. "I think you dropped it."

Izzy took and took it from her. He turned in over in his hands and examined the smooth chrome and purple surface. "Obviously the Jedi believed in colour co-ordination." He tried the recessed activation switch, but got no response. He frowned. "I don't understand."

Leia smiled. "You still need to charge it Izzy. We would have, but it's a special ritual for when the first time a sabre is charged." She moved to the doorway. "You can charge it on route to Endor. We only have another two days before Matt shows up at Hoth."

Izzy nodded and hung the sabre from the hook on his belt. He smiled to himself. Somehow it felt _right _for it to be there.

Mimi giggled. "For a 'child of light' you sure managed to make a lot of city go dark."

Izzy frowned. "I don't understand Mimi."

Mimi giggled again. "You boys. You never are interested in names, are you?"

Izzy thought about the symbols that made up his name when he wrote it out in traditional Japanese script. _Child, Light. Child of Light!_ "Mimi, that's it! It wasn't Tai's sister Hikari in that prophesy we found, it was me!" His mind started to go through the rest of the prophecy. "That knowledge doesn't help us much as we still don't know who the 'One-Who-Is-Many' is, or what Myotismon is going to do to Japan." His shoulders sagged slightly. "We should get going."

Leia nodded and lead the way back to the spaceport, Mimi and Palmon walking beside her.

Wedge dropped back slightly to walk beside Izzy and Tentomon. "Wonder how the others are doing."

Izzy shrugged slightly. "Joe and Sora will be just getting on with it, same as us. I just hope the people assigned to Tai and T.K. keep them in line."

Wedge snorted slightly. "I hope that Tai is a good influence on Wes and Hobbie. He seems to be responsible enough."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call Tai responsible. If anything he likes to get in trouble." He smiled. "Hopefully this Wes and Hobbie will be good influences."

"Wes? A good influence? I was hoping Tai would be a good influence on him!"

Izzy and Wedge exchanged a troubled glance. "Uh-oh."

Authors Notes: -Tada! New chapter! Written almost entirely in one weekend. I have GOT to stop having these bits of inspiration late at night! 

If there's one person I enjoy putting through the wringer as much as Matt, it's Izzy. (Izzy-Hey! I thought I was your muse and the subject of all your fantasies!)

A brief word… Mrlsst, the ghost Jedi and Gyr Keela belong to, you guessed it, Mike Stackpole. For the full story of what happened the last time Wedge was there go read "Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair" which is a trade paper back (i.e. a comic book. Very good read) I apologise for the constant _tsi_ing, but that was how the character was written in the original.

Next chapter will be, as suggested, Tai, T.K., Wes and Hobbie in trouble on Tatooine. *Evil grin*. For those of you who aren't familiar with Wes and Hobbie… Well one of Wes's practical jokes that backfired ended up involving a toy Ewok, as the only thing standing between his modesty and the rest of the pilots of Wraith Squadron. *Giggles*


	15. Tatooine-A Close Shave

Author's Note: -This takes place concurrently with the previous chapter.

The atmosphere was smokey, the drinks watered down, and the clientele as ugly as the spawn of the Sith.

Janson was loving every minute of it. While the lum he was drinking may have been watered to the point of having an alcoholic content of nil, it was worth it for the ambience.

Opposite him sat his best friend and drinking buddy, Derek Klivian, who despite much questioning on the part of Janson had never revealed why his chosen nickname was 'Hobbie'. Hobbie was, like Janson, below average height for a human male, and his slight figure and fixed mournful expression did little to help him to fit into the rough feel of the Tatooine cantina.

Jason drained his mug. "Why is it Wedge always lands us with the worse assignments?"

"He likes us?" suggested Hobbie.

Janson waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "No, he thinks we'd get too famous." He contemplated his empty mug, then put it to one side. "And how come he gets us to use our leave to do this?"

"He's a General," explained Hobbie. "Comes with rank."

Janson sighed. "Remind me the next time Wedge says 'I'd like you to do something for me' to just shoot him before he starts."

"Can't be as bad as the last time we were here," said Hobbie, sounding hopeful. "I mean, what are the chances of that happening again?"

Janson snorted, then noticed Hobbie focusing on something behind him. "What is it?"

"Look behind you Wes."

Janson turned in his chair. "You have got to be kidding."

In the doorway stood two children dressed in strange, bright clothes. The smaller blonde child was hugging some sort of toy and was partly hiding behind the larger and presumably older dark haired boy.

Janson turned back to face Hobbie. "Probably here to fetch their old man home for the evening."

Hobbie eyed the children as they moved through the crowd. "I don't know if they should be here Wes. That older kid seems to have his arm in a brace or splint."

Janson frowned. "I don't like the idea of kids getting hurt either. Let's keep an eye on them while they're here."

"That'll be easy."

Janson was worried. Hobbie wasn't usually that optimistic. "Why?"

Hobbie gestured at what Janson presumed was the two boys. "They're making straight for us."

Sure enough the two boys came and stood between Janson and Hobbie.

"Are you Majors Wes Janson and Derek Klivian?" asked the older boy.

Janson nodded even as he heard the voices in the cantina quieten at the concept of members of the government inside their hallowed halls of disreputableness. "And who are you?"

The taller boy put out a hand. "Tai Kamiya. And this is T.K. Takashi."

Hobbie's dour expression got even worse. "Wedge has done it to us again, hasn't he?" he asked Janson.

Janson shook his head. "You can't be Kamiya and Takashi. They're Jedi!"

The sound of several blaster safeties being snapped off rang out.

Janson noticed Tai move into a more balanced pose, ready for a fight. The pilot stood quickly. "Let's get you boys home to your mother." He quite forcefully took Tai's arm and started to pull the boy from the cantina.

Tai looked around confused. "What's going on? We were told to meet you here, so we're here."

Janson was nearly dragging Tai by this point. "Let's _go_!"

Tai however stayed firm. "Explain now or I'll Jedi you!" He waved his hands in a manner that might have been threatening if it hadn't seemed such a ridiculous situation.

Up by the bar a Sullustan laughed. "Is the Republic having so many Jedi that they must take children?"

Both Tai and T.K. blushed at that.

"We've not finish training," supplied T.K. helpfully.

Another round of laugher, this time from a large number of the patrons, followed that statement.

"Go back to your mother," slurred the Sullustan. "Maybe she can give you a toy sabre to play with." He gestured at Janson and Hobbie. "Take these spies with you. Before we decide to do something to stop their eavesdropping."

"Oh yeah?" asked Tai. He lunged forwards at the Sullustan, but Janson grabbed the back of his collar.

"Outside. Now." Janson spoke from a cold place deep in his gut. Tai looked suitably cowed, and went outside without a further murmur.

Hobbie put a guiding hand on T.K's shoulder and started to guide the young boy out the door. He then paused for a moment, and put a fifty-credit chit down on the table to clear the tab he and Janson had run up.

Outside Janson exploded. "How the hell did you kids know about our mission? Where are the Jedi?"

Tai jerked, dislodging Janson's grip from his shoulders. He spun to face the pilot. "We _are _the Jedi doofus!"

Janson laughed. "Oh no way. No way is Wedge landing us with babysitting duty." He moved one hand to the butt of his blaster. "Now tell me where the _real _Jedi are." His movements made clear what he would do if Tai's answer didn't meet his expectations.

To his surprise a yellow lizard ran in and stood between them. "Stay away from Tai."

Janson's eyebrows raised in surprise. He didn't think that Trandoshan young looked like that. He made a decision and pulled his blaster from his holster and levelled it at Tai's head, determined to stop whatever games these kids were playing.

He found his blaster torn from his grip and flying through the air to the blonde boy's feet. Suddenly the claim that these two boys were Jedi didn't seem so outrageous.

T.K. turned to Hobbie who was standing behind him, watching Janson with some apparent mirth.

"If I give the gun to you are you going to try to shoot Tai?" asked T.K.

Hobbie shook his head, picked the blaster off the ground then moved to join Janson.

"Here." He handed Janson back his weapon. "Nice to know you can still make a spectacle of yourself."

Janson grimaced and jammed the blaster back into his holster. "Thanks for the moral support." He held out a hand to Tai. "Sorry."

Tai examined the hand for a moment as if unsure what to do with it, then took it. "I think we both acted immaturely."

Hobbie stifled a laugh. "That's business as usual for Wes." He pointed to T.K. "Little kid is quite perceptive sometimes."

T.K. joined the two men and Tai. "Are we gonna go find the lightsabre now?"

Tai put his arm around T.K. "Don't worry T.K. We'll get my sabre, then yours, then we'll go rescue your brother."

Janson and Hobbie exchanged glances.

"Okay," said Janson. "Want to run that by us again with the help files enabled? Wedge didn't tell us anything about this assignment except that once we were done here we were going to Tanaab and then Hoth with two Jedi."

Tai sighed. "We're Tai and T.K, two members of the Digidestined. We were taken from out home to this universe to fight against an evil digimon, Myotismon, and some Sith guy called Exar Kun. We got taken to the Jedi Academy, trained as Jedi, and now we're looking for our lightsabres which were hidden on many planets."

Janson nodded. "That explains why we're taking you to several planets, but why three of them if there's only two of you?"

Tai patted T.K's shoulder. "T.K's brother was taken in by Exar Kun. His sabre is in Hoth. We're all going there with our sabres to make sure he doesn't get his at the very least, and hopefully make him see what a jerk he's being and get him to join up with us again."

T.K. smiled. "Tai said he'd be my big brother until Matt gets back." He hugged Tai slightly.

"Riiiight," said Hobbie. "So somewhere on the surface of this planet is something the size of a glow rod. We have to find it in two days, then repeat this success on another planet, then stop some kid with the dark side as his ally getting his?" He looked Janson in the eye. "We're doomed." He noticed Tai and T.K. giggling. "What's so funny?"

The little creature in T.K's arms piped up. "You sound just like one of their friends."

Janson looked at Patamon, then Agumon. "I had you pegged as a toy and a young Tranoshan. That's not right is it?"

"Nah," said the batpig. "We're digimon."

Hobbie nodded. "Like that evil My-whatever."

Janson held his hands up. "Okay, so now we know each other, how are we going to find these lightsabres?"

"Easy," grinned Tai. "We just follow my nose."

Hobbie and Janson exchanged puzzled glances.

"Huh?" asked Janson.

Agumon shrugged. "Tai swears he's been smelling chocolate since we entered orbit."

Tai nodded. "And I'm pretty sure the closer I get to the lightsabre the better I smell it."

"_Chocolate?_" asked Janson, incredulous. "You intend us to drive around with you trying to find the source of a smell?" He turned to Hobbie. "Forget what I said, let's go find Wedge and shoot him now."

The landspeeder kicked up a cloud of dust as it moved through the Tatooine desert. Onboard the four humans and two digimon tried to ignore the hot suns beating down on them.

Tai took a sip from his canteen. "We're getting closer."

Wes scowled at Tai. "You've been saying that for the last two hours." He poked Hobbie in the shoulder. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?"

Hobbie sighed. "You've asked me that three times. Each time I gave the same answer. What do you think?"

Tai leaned in closer from his rear seat. "I think this speeder has seen better days."

Janson turned to Tai. "Stay quiet and keep sniffing Hair-boy."

Tai glared at Janson. "No one disses the hair dude."

Janson held his hands up in a mockery of surrender. "Sorry Taichi." He grinned wickedly. "Or should it be Tetchy? Tetchy Kamiya!"

"Humph." Tai sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. "It's not my fault that you can't follow directions." He shut his eyes for a moment. "We need to head more to the left."

Hobbie sighed and twiddled the controls, reorientating the landspeeder on a new heading.

"You're leading us in circles Tetchy!" gloated Janson.

"Shut up."

"You and your funny chocolate smell."

"Shut up!" Tai leant over and whacked Janson round the head. "I'll Jedi you."

Janson started to choke with laughter. "Jedi me? You're no Luke Skywalker."

"No, I'm not possessed by some Sith spirit," spat back Tai.

"What?" Hobbie brought the landspeeder to a halt. "Luke's possessed?"

Tai mimed zipping his mouth shut. "Not telling. Janson here won't listen."

Hobbie rolled his eyes. "I have to say out of you three T.K. seems to be the most grown up of the lot."

"Hey!" protested both Tai and Janson.

"Now spill," continued Janson. "What's up with Luke?"

Tai frowned. "Exar Kun got him and is using his body. I don't know where Luke is."

"You better not be making this up Tetchy…" warned Janson.

"He's not Mr Janson," said T.K. "Exar Kun's a bad man and he's got my brother and Master Skywalker and is making them act funny."

Janson let off a stream of curses. "Luke has been taken over by the Sith and the only thing that can bring him back is seven kids, one of which has joined the bad guys. This is not happening."

Tai wiped his brow. "We've both got friends on the line so let's call it a truce okay Janson? This heat is making me act a bit short tempered." He stuck out his hand at Janson.

Janson shook it. "Deal and my name is Wes. Let's go get our friends back Tetchy."

"Taichi."

"Tetchy."

"Taichi."

Hobbie rolled his eyes and restarted the landspeeder as they continued to argue.

Janson examined the sheer cliff face. He hit it with his fist. "It's a rock wall Tetchy. Nothing is here."

Tai scowled at Janson's continued use of the nickname, but didn't waste his breath complaining. He pointed at the raised parts of the surface. "You see that? It looks like the symbol of Courage, but bits of it have been worn off."

"Sandstorms," commented Hobbie. "They get them here from time to time."

Tai ran his hand over the rock face. "So now what? We obviously found it, but now do we open it?"

The rock face where his hand was I contact started to glow. The glow expanded until it formed the approximate shape of an arch, then faded leaving an entrance into the cave beyond.

"Wow," commented Tai. "These ancient Jedi sure knew how to impress."

Agumon pointed to the top of the archway. "Lookit."

The group retreated a few steps to better view the panel mounted there.

Tai shook his head. "It's in one of your languages, not ours."

Hobbie nodded and proceeded to read aloud.

"_If any traveller should find this place and seek to enter these halls,_

_Beware for only those of Courage may pass between these walls._"

Janson snorted. "Some ancient Jedi is daring us." He started to the entrance.

Hobbie held up a placating hand. "I'm sure it's not that simple Wes."

Wes stopped in front of the entrance and turned back towards them and shrugged. "I'm a man of Courage. I've got the commendations to prove it."

He started towards the entrance, when Tai darted forwards. The boy's hand fastened round Janson's collar and yanked him back in time to stop a giant blade from cutting him in two as he passed through the entrance.

Janson watched aghast as the blade completed its swing and moved back into what he presumed was the 'ready' position.

Tai released his hold on Janson's collar and the man settled to the ground with an 'oof'.

Janson looked at the entrance. "That could kill some one."

Hobbie tried to hide a smirk. "I think that was the point Wes."

Janson got unsteadily to his feet. "Thanks for the save," he told Tai. "How did you know what would happen?"

Tai shook his head. "I didn't exactly, but Izzy told me before we left that the sabres were quite probably booby trapped so that only we could get to them. It seemed like the warning was there to make sure no one who found this place by accident would go in and get killed."

Janson readjusted his collar. "So how are you going to get through all that?"

Tai shrugged. "I've got what Master Skywalker referred to as a 'danger sense'. I can tell when something is about to try to kill me." He gestured at the door. "I guess I go in and dodge whatever they throw at me."

T.K. clamped himself around Tai's waist. "Don't go Tai. There'll be all sorts of pointy stuff in there that could kill you."

Agumon nodded. "I'm supposed to protect you. Let me go first."

Tai shook his head. "Sorry bud, but this stuff will just slice and dice you." He gently pried T.K. off of him, and then knelt to be at eye level with the smaller boy. "Don't worry T.K. I'll be fine."

T.K. started to sob. "I don't wanna lose another big brother."

"Hey." Tai rubbed T.K's shoulder in a way he'd seen Sora use to calm T.K. "Don't worry, you won't loose me or Matt."

T.K. sniffed and wiped at his eyes and nose with his sleeve. "Do you promise Tai?"

"Sure." Tai patted T.K. once more, then stood up. He glanced at Janson and Hobbie, his eyes asking them to look after T.K. if anything happened.

Janson slowly nodded. "Go get 'em Tetchy."

"Taichi." Tai walked toward the doorway, his danger sense sending signals that he should stay away. As he walked through the arch it flared, and Tai dived forwards into a roll. As he came to his feet he got another warning tingle and he leapt, grasping onto a ledge of rock above him. Below where he had once stood a blaster bolt scorched the ground.

Tai let out a silent breath. _So far, so good._ He moved along the ledge until he felt another warning. He dropped as a buzz saw spun out of the wall at the level of where his elbows had been. _That would've hurt._ He turned and looked behind him.

Janson smiled and waved. "You're doing great kid."

_Ten lousy feet??!!_ Tai sighed and started forwards again. He got five feet before his sense went off again and he flattened himself to the ground. A blaster bolt flew over his head. He crawled clear, then stood up and walked round the curve of the passageway.

He again felt something, jumped forwards, felt again and moved into a forwards roll then a somersault. Behind him five sets of blades crashed though a sequence meant to dice anyone who had come that far. Tai shut his eyes and tried to get a sense of what was next. _If I'm only reacting instead of acting I'll get killed. _Ahead he could sense a five-foot clear stretch followed by a seven-foot stretch his Force sense identified as 'dangerous'. Tai sized up the distances, then sprinted forwards, launching himself into a dive and roll. He felt a blade of some description pass by his back and another one whistle past his ear, then he was clear and standing on the far side. _These are starting to get way too close. _He squinted in the low light levels at something up ahead.

About twenty metres in front of him was a raised plinth with some complicated electrical equipment on it. His danger sense identified most of the surrounding area as 'not good' with a few spaces, barely more than a foot square that were safe. Tai looked around and found several small lose rocks in the 'safe' zone he was standing in. He picked them up and threw them one at a time to see what would happen.

The first rock caused the floor it landed on to collapse, revealing a pit of spikes. The second was sliced cleanly in two in mid-flight by a flying blade. The third tripped what had to be some sort of landmine and the fourth simply disappeared without a trace. Tai examined the floor where the traps had fired, but could see nothing to distinguish those patches of floor from the rest. _Clearly I need to touch the floor as little as possible, except for the safe parts. And _that _means leaps with a running start._

Tai backed up as far as he could, then set off at a sprint. He used the Force to increase his jumps height, but found that he had to twist and tumble in mid air to avoid the blades flying past him. He hit the ground inverted and used a hand spring to launch himself up again as a blaster bolt hit where his hands had hit. He arched his back to allow a blade to pass beneath him and continued to let his body tumble to its upright position and land. He jumped without somersaulting, but twisted laterally to let a blade swing millimetres from his skin as he turned sideways. He hit the ground and backfliped, tucking his knees into his chest as blades flew both in front and behind him simultaneously.

He landed on his feet heavily, and overbalanced backwards due to his momentum. He ended up in a rather undignified heap at the base of the plinth.

"Made it." Tai took a couple of deep breaths to ensure he was still alive after all of that. He checked himself over and was surprised to find no cuts anywhere. He grabbed the edge of the plinth and used it to help drag himself upright. He then examined the electrical equipment.

Something that was clearly the hilt of a lightsabre was wired to a large blockish item. Next to it lay something that resembled the lid of a jar, but with a thicker lip. Tai picked up this odd item and examined it. Unable to fathom its use, he put it down again and reached for the sabre. A warning tickled in the back of his skull. Tai moved his hand away. Obviously he was not meant to pick it up.

Tai walked around the plinth and found on the opposite side an inscription. He carefully read it, acknowledging the instructions.

_First I have to charge the sabre, then face a final test. _Tai thought about this for a moment. _That's why I didn't want to pick the sabre up; it must be rigged so that when the connection is broken the final trap is sprung._ He laid one hand on the sabres hilt and tried to get the Force to flow through him and into the hilt. _This is Izzy gig. Why isn't he trying to do this? _Tai felt nothing, then tried to shift his view to something he could relate more easily to. _This isn't a sabre, _he told himself. _It's a sleeping tiger. It can't hurt anyone now, but when it wakes it's deadly. _He smiled as he slowly connected his Force-sense to the collection of metal that represented in his mind a tiger. When he felt the connection was strong enough he reached to the blocky power supply with his free hand and toggled the activation switch.

He felt the power move into the internal battery of the sabre. It started as a slow trickle, then sped up as he helped it along. More and more he could feel the sabre as a part of him, brash and confident, willing to do what ever it took to win. His smile turned into a broad grin. _Maybe I should ask Izzy what it's like when he joins with mechanical stuff._ The power kept flowing in a torrent until Tai could sense the battery nearing its full capacity. The flow dwindled, then stopped and the power supply switched off with a click, dragging Tai's mind back to his body.

He let go of the hilt and rubbed his eyes, trying to get his brain focusing on the physical, rather than the metaphysical realm. _I've got to be all here for what comes next. I wouldn't be given a charged lightsabre if I didn't need it. _He examined the area where the wires connected to the sabre. He found a screw thread on the outer surface, like on the inside of the jam jar lid. _So that's what that odd object was for. It's a screw cap to protect the contact points._ Tai made a careful examination of the rest of the room and noticed a door half hidden in the gloom. _That must be where the whatever comes from._

He took the sabre in one hand and the cap in the other. "Let's rock!"

He pulled the hilt free of its contacts then hurriedly screwed on the cap. As he did so the door slowly creaked and rose into a recess above the doorframe. Tai stepped forwards and ignited the lightsabres orange blade with as _snap-hiss_. He assumed the basic stance that Corran had taught him barely two weeks ago.

Out of the doorway stalked some sort of droid with six appendages. Two of the appendages served as legs for the droid with the remaining arms free to move. It reminded Tai of a giant robotic insect. Of the two 'arms' the higher mounted and longer pair ended in wicked looking curved blades. The shorter middle appendages contained what Tai was beginning to recognise as blaster muzzles. The droid fired at the boy, and Tai knocked the bolts away with his lightsabre, as he had been taught they could do. The droid started to advance, firing as it went. Tai started to back up, trying to keep a fixed distance between him and the droid.

While Tai allowed the Force to move his arms to bring the lightsabre around to block he used the analytical portion of his mind. _If I keep retreating I'm going to get skewered by all those traps I passed to get into this room. I can't get to close either. That droid will have an easy time hitting me it I get too close and even if I block the shots it will still have those blades._

_So I'll just have to stop that thing from walking. _Tai felt his back connect with the stone plinth on which his sabre had rested. _It's now or never. _He hauled his arm back and threw his sabre in a low arc, the orange blade twirling round and round. It bit into the left leg of the droid, severing it.

The droid keeled over and lay on its side, still firing at Tai. Tai vaulted over the plinth and crouched behind it. _Step one complete. Now I'm just stuck with that thing shooting at me with no weapon. _He closed his eyes and sent his Force sense out into the room. His sabre was easy to spot, it was almost as if a part of himself rested on the far side of the room. Tai put his hand out just past the plinth and the sabre flew into it, pulled by Tai's telekinesis. Tai stood and started to bat away the blasts again. He advanced on the droid until he lay just outside of the longer arms reaches. _Step two, remove long-range weapons. _Tai took a step forwards and as he predicted the arms swung out. He brought his sabre round and took off one of the arms. The other snaked around his guard and caved a long shallow cut across his right forearm.

"Damn!" Tai retreated back a step, then lunged and severed the other knife from the droid. The droid increased its rate of fire but Tai danced in and cut both the blasters from their arms. He stepped back, sabre at the ready in case the droid had any other tricks to deploy.

The droid wheezed, then seemed to power down. A panel on its 'head' opened, revealing a holoprojector. Tai watched as a centuries old recording began to play.

"_If you are indeed the child of Courage that was foretold,_" said the projected Jedi. "_Then take this lightsabre with our blessings. Know that you can stop the darkness, but only together with your friends._" The human Jedi smiled at him through the ages. "_Love is the cure to hate, Hope the cure to darkness, and Courage and Knowledge will be their guides._" The figure gestured behind him. "_The passage the droid came from will lead you back to the dessert. You need only cut your way out. May the Force be with you._" The message winked out and the droid's internal light died.

Tai smiled and extinguished his lightsabre. _More prophetic warnings. I should write them down and pass them on to Izzy when we meet again._ He started towards the passage.

"You're bluffing," said Janson confidently, shoving forward another credit chit.

Hobbie laid down his cards. "Read 'em and weep."

Janson looked at the two of sabres, the three of flasks and the idiot card. "Damn. I could've sworn you were bluffing."

Hobbie smirked and pulled the pot towards him. "So what did you have?"

"Twenty two." Janson turned his cards over to show Hobbie the six of staves, the five of flasks and the eleven of coins. He then looked over at where T.K. was sitting with the two digimon watching the tunnel entrance. "Hey T.K. You sure we can't teach you how to play?"

T.K. shook his head, not taking his eyes off the entrance. "No thank you Mr Janson. I'm waiting for Tai to come back."

Janson sighed and moved to sit next to T.K. "Kid, you need to sit in the shade for a while. All the heat will make you sick."

T.K. shook his head again. "I'm going to wait for Tai. I didn't stay put and wait for Matt once and he never came back. I don't want that to happen again."

Patamon stirred in T.K's shadow. "But T.K, Wes isn't Demidevimon. Tai will come back even if you do move."

"Damn right I'll come back," came Tai's voice from behind them.

"Tai!" T.K. squealed. The small boy got up and run to hug him.

Tai hugged T.K. back. "Told you I'd be okay."

"I didn't doubt ya for a second Tai." He looked at Tai's belt. "Hey, you found it!"

Tai grinned and fingered the hilt of the lightsabre where it hung at his belt. "Sure did."

Hobbie glanced at the suns positions. "We should get going. We can't afford to be out in the dessert in the dark. The Sandpeople will be out in force." He got into the landspeeder and started up the engine. "You coming?"

"Uh-huh!" nodded T.K. He hopped into the seat next to Hobbie and Patamon flew over and settled in T.K's lap.

Tai started to join up with Agumon when Janson caught his arm. "Ahh!"

Janson nodded. "That's what I thought. Some blade got a little close huh?"

Tai nodded. "Yeah." He rolled his sleeve to show Janson a rag held in place with the brace he usually wore on his other arm. Tai traced out a path with a finger, showing Janson where the cut was underneath.

Janson winced. "That's nasty. You okay?"

"Yeah. It's not deep. Good job my tunic is about the same colour otherwise T.K. would've seen." Tai rubbed his eyes. "Can you keep off my back on the return trip? I'd like to run through the healing trance and try to get my brace back on the right arm."

Janson patted Tai amiably on the back. "Sure thing Tetchy."

"Taichi."

"Tetchy."

"Forget it." Tai sighed and got in the landspeeder.

Exar Kun reclined in the throne he had ordered brought from his palace. Beside him sat Myotismon, reclining in his own throne.

Myotismon laughed. "You have the most deliciously evil ideas my ally. Blinding that child with his own inadequacies was quite a success."

Exar Kun nodded and sipped at the wine that had been found amongst the stores. "With all your insight and evil Myotismon, it is a shame that you are blind to the Force. The torment that Matt is in is quite pleasurable."

Myotismon smiled. "But I can smell the fear and desperation that clings to him like a second skin. It is a smell I choose to savour." He reached out and took his own glass of wine from the tray. "And keeping him with lack of sleep, lack of time to think, is a master stroke."

Exar Kun waved his hand in a modest fashion. "Oh come now, it is one of the most basic approaches to reprogramming. Surely you have availed yourself of its worth at some point."

"That is true," conceded Myotismon, "However I find that some individuals wither and die under such pressures."

Exar Kun snorted. "Humans can be most stubborn. Give them impossible odds and they will often work to overcome them." He rose and moved to a pedestal in the corner of the room. "Tionne brought this to me today. It is the Holocron that the Emperor once held."

"Holocron?" asked Myotismon.

"A repository of Jedi knowledge," explained Exar Kun. "With it I will learn the secrets of those children and control their downward slide to my control." He moved his hand to the surface of the Holocron.

The light it cast flickered, and then the Gatekeeper in the form of Bodo Baas appeared.

"Tell me," asked Exar Kun, "What are the powers that the Digidestined wield?"

The simulacrum's multifaceted eyes swung to focus on Exar Kun. "You will learn nothing of the eight children from me Exar Kun."

"Exar Kun?" Exar Kun faked surprise. "But I am Luke Skywalker."

Bodo Baas chuckled. "Your form may be of Skywalker, but your soul is as black as pitch and unmistakeable to my eyes. I will guard the secrets of the Eight with my very existence." The hologram fizzled out.

Exar Kun snarled and sent a bolt of energy into the nearby wall, blowing a hole in it. "Curse those meddling fools on the Council! Even though they are dead they _still _interfere in my work!"

Myotismon however was in thought. "He will protect the Eight? But there are only seven children."

His thoughts were interrupted by a cough. "What is it Gatomon?"

Gatomon bowed. "The Imperials have arrived."

"Good." Myotismon smiled. "Send Gesomon and MegaSeadramon to Mon Calamari, and Pumpkinmon, Gotsumon and Snimon to Endor. Hopefully we can delay those children until our puppet can retrieve his lightsabre."

He turned to Exar Kun. "Is the child ready?"

Exar Kun nodded. "Matt will continue the exercises out of fear." He tapped the side of his head. "My link with him will ensure that he will practise until exhaustion claims him, then as soon as he wakes he begins again." He snorted. "Let the others get to Hoth first. It will do them no good."

Author's notes:-OOOooooo. This is getting good. You'd think because I'm the author I'd know what they are going to do next wouldn't you? Well I don't. I know in the general sense, but it's the little things about how they do it that constantly surprise me. I never planed about the fighting between Tai and Wes. When I thought about it I realised that they were probably close enough in personality to really annoy each other. The whole thing with Wes calling Tai 'Tetchy' (Taichi) will become important later on *Knowing wink* but I ain't spilling.

The game Wes and Hobbie were playing is called 'Sabacc'. The object is to get twenty-three, and it works similar to blackjack. Hobbie won because he had what's called an 'Idiot's Array', a 2,3 and 0 (23 geddit?)

I have rather obviously OD'ed on Tomb Raider before writing this. All I can say is that this was always the way this was going to go down.

I have a favour to ask. Can you PLEASE review? I'm getting paranoid that no one's reading this apart from two or three people. Please put my nerves to rest. Pretty please??

Check out http://www.geocities.com/hiyali/ and follow the links to side7.com. These are pictures done by a friend of mine of the Jedi Destined. She's working on them. How do I know? I sketched out all the costumes for her to start with.


	16. Mon Calamari-Hitting the Surf

Authors Note: - This takes place concurrently with the previous two chapters

Feona threw back the hyperspace levers and the tunnel of light around the _Blue Ray _faded to reveal a small system of planets. She reached further up her board and flicked a switch, bringing online the sublight engines. "Home Sweet Home," she commented.

Next to her in his position as co-pilot Doyle raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were from Mon Cal."

Feona shrugged. "These days I don't get back enough to think of it as home." She rapped her knuckles against the nearby bulkhead. "This ship to me is home." She swivelled round in her chair to face where Joe and Sora were sitting. "Anything?"

Joe shook his head. "No ma'am. I'm not feeling anything."

"Odd." Feona turned back to her panel. "And call me Feona. I'm not that old."

Doyle flicked another switch. "Spaceport is hailing us."

Feona grabbed a headset. "Put 'em on."

Doyle listened with half an ear as Feona gave the same exchange that had been repeated at every other planet they had ever been to with minor variations. "Not sensing anything still?" he asked Joe over his shoulder.

Joe shook his head, then realised that Doyle would be unable to see it. "No s.. Doyle."

Doyle shrugged and put the _Ray _into a shallow dive. "Main spaceport is it?" he asked Feona as she took off the headset.

Feona nodded. "Not much traffic going through Mon Calamari since the World Crushers came." She smiled a little. "Want to take the controls for this one? I'd like to enjoy the view."

"Sure." Doyle manipulated a few more controls, altering the pitch and yaw of the craft so that it was on course for the landing zone.

Feona lent back and looked out at the blue sphere that was slowly filling the cockpit view port.

Joe's eyes snapped open.

"Hey Joe, did you know when you concentrate you look like you're smelling something real bad?" asked Gomamon.

"Nothing?" asked Feona, ignoring the digimon.

Joe shook his head. "I don't understand. Izzy said we'd be able to find them from orbit, yet here I am on the ground and I get nothing."

"Maybe Izzy made a mistake," suggested Sora. "He was under a lot of stress when he was working these out."

Joe shook his head. "I don't think so. It _feels_ right that I'm here." He made a face. "Or it could be just gas."

Doyle slapped his forehead. "Great. How do we find a lightsabre on a planet that's mostly water? It could be _anywhere_!"

Feona frowned. "Izzy told me before we left that each sabre was somehow protected to make sure they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands." She closed her eyes in thought. "If it's protected then it must use something that is unique to each of you." Her eyes opened again. "Joe, what are your best skills? What are the things Jedi do that you are best at?"

Joe frowned. "Izzy found this prophesy that said I could see the future. I was working with Master Skywalker on it, but I wasn't very good. I never really saw much."

Feona frowned. "I'm not so sure about that." She got up and started to pace. "Perhaps Skywalker was blocking you."

"Why would he do that?" asked Biyomon. "He wanted the humans to serve that evil Jedi."

Feona nodded. "Yes. But Joe would've seen the death that such an act would cause." She turned to Joe and Sora. "I have no doubt that both Tai and Izzy if turned would be like angels of Death, causing destruction wherever they went."

"So," said Doyle, catching on, "If Joe had seen any of that he would've blown the whistle too soon for Exar Kun's liking."

Sora nodded. "That makes sense. So what now?"

Doyle shrugged. "We leave Joe alone and hope his has a vision."

"That's your big plan?" asked Joe, incredulous. "Lock me in a dark room and _hope_ I see something?"

Feona nodded. "Pretty much. We don't have to leave here for another two days." She grinned evilly. "Take your time."

Feona sat on the bench looking out to sea. Even after all these years in space the ocean still called to her. She looked up as Doyle came to sit beside her.

"Still nothing?" she asked.

Doyle shook his head. "Joe says that he's getting stuff alright, he just can't find the bit we need."

"Hmm…" Feona turned back to the ocean. "Strange. After everything that's happened to me this place still feels like home." She shut her eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the sea breeze.

Doyle sighed. "I know the Empire did some pretty horrible things to you, but this is your home. It says so on your birth bytes."

Feona shook her head, her eyes still closed. "I didn't see it until I was four again. The Imperial Palace was my first home." She opened her eyes and met Doyle's blue-eyed gaze. "They may even have forged my entire record. Mara Jade disappeared when she was taken."

"You going to visit your parents?"

Feona sighed again. "I don't know. I only stayed with them for three years. They seem never to see me, just the child they lost."

Doyle put an arm around her shoulders. "What can it hurt? I know that if given the chance I'd like to see my family now they're gone."

Feona leaned into his shoulder. "But they don't approve. They never did. I should've married some man who was to inherit his father's company and settled down to be his wife and bare his sons."

Doyle chuckled slightly. "And instead you chose the life of adventure you live now."

Feona shrugged slightly. "I didn't choose it. It chose me. How can I be an idle housewife when I know I could be out there making a difference?"

Doyle raised an eyebrow. "You seem terribly mature for a nine year old."

"Oh, I apologise." Feona cleared her throat. "I wanna sweetie! And a pony! And a bebe doll with a matching kar! And…"

"Okay, okay." Doyle removed his arm from around her shoulders. "No more cracks about your age."

Feona grinned. "You bet. I'd like to see anyone else with my qualifications."

Doyle raised an eyebrow again. "Mara Jade?"

Feona shook her head. "He got her young enough. I don't think she remembers anything much about her family." She stood up and brushed imaginary dust off her clothes. "Right. I've made a decision, I'll go visit them."

Doyle smiled. He knew that he had pushed the right buttons for Feona. "I'll keep an eye on Sora, Biyomon and Gomamon."

Feona eyed him warily. "Try to keep him out of trouble. Scaring the spit out of those Quarren kids wasn't exactly smart."

Doyle grinned. "I think I'd have more luck stopping a supernova. Have a good time."

Feona nodded and walked off towards the nearby public transport depot. Doyle sighed and started his walk back to the ship.

What Joe saw before him most resembled his mothers knitting. A huge tangle of intertwining threads, each one affecting all those around it. Trying to find order in the chaos was impossible.

_"I don't want to go to summer camp," complained Joe._

_His father sighed. "Now Joe, you've worked hard this term, so I want you to enjoy yourself. Work hard and play hard."_

_"Yes Dad."_

No good. That was the past. He needed to see the future, but every thread split into two more as they moved away from him.

Matt stood with his fists clenched. "You don't have a clue how I feel Tai. You're acting like such a jerk!"

_"Who you calling a jerk, jerk?!" Tai lunged and knocked Matt over._

He tried another tread.

_Izzy knew he'd never make it out in time before the whatever it was discharged, so he curled into a ball to present a smaller surface area and threw himself back into the Force._

Almost an instant later he felt fire across every part of his back and the parts of his arms facing outwards as they covered his head. He screamed even as the Force diverted most of the deadly energy away from his body.

That was closer because it had Izzy dressed in his robes, but was it the past or the future? Joe followed the thread further along.

Izzy gritted his teeth as Matt approached him.

_"I want to hear you scream Izumi. I want to hear you beg me to stop." Matt continued to discharge blue lightning into the smaller boys frame._

_"Never…" choked out Izzy. "I won't… give you the… satisfaction."_

_Matt continued to calmly and coldly pummel Izzy until the smaller boy fell limp._

No… That hasn't happened yet. I won't let it.

_"Mimi!" Joe tackled Mimi as a blaster bolt flew overhead. For a moment he revelled in how close he was to her, then he got off her and helped her up. "Watch out. These guys aren't trying to stun or disable us."_

I had the sabre then. Let's backtrack.

_"Oh Joe," whined Gomamon, "Why can't I go for a swim?"_

_Joe pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Doyle told me you'd been making a nuisance of yourself and scaring the local kids."_

_"So?"_

No sabre. Forwards then.

Sora sat on a beach enjoying the sun. She'd been so busy worrying about Matt and T.K. that it was nice to stop. The worry was still there, but for now she could at least push it to the back of her mind. She listened as the wind brought the sound of children laughing to her ears. She smiled and revelled in the sheer alienness of the local population. To her, their minds were as opaque as fog, a perfect contrast to the beautifully clear ocean lapping at the shore.

"Sora!" called Biyomon.

Sora sighed and walked over to where her digimon was perched on some rocks. "What is it Biyomon?"

The pink digimon pointed a wing out into the ocean. "He's doing it again."

Sora squinted and she could just make out Gomamon swimming after a group of Mon Cal youths. "Gomamon!"

Gomamon stopped chasing. "What?" He then seemed to realise what Sora had seen him doing. "You're taking this way out of context! I was just playing."

"Uh-huh." Sora nodded and crossed her arms. "And did they know that?"

"Well…"

"Gomamon's in trouble!" gloated Biyomon.

"I am not," retorted the seal-like digimon, swimming back to shore. "I just don't like sitting around while Joe's doing that medi thing."

"Meditation," supplied Sora. "And we have no choice. We need his lightsabre just like we need everyone else's."

Gomamon pulled himself out of the water. "Aw come on. You know the only person worse at fighting than him is Mimi."

Sora caught herself smiling. "You may be right about that." She wiped the smile from her face. "That's still not a reason to go about scaring people."

Doyle walked over to join them. "He hasn't."

"He has," supplied Biyomon.

Doyle sighed. "You're supposed to be keeping a low profile. We don't need any of Kun's friends to find out that we're here."

"Where's the fun in that?" quipped Gomamon.

Joe was having no luck. Somehow he was being blocked from seeing himself in a nearby context. So he came up with an alternative approach. If he couldn't see himself finding it, maybe he could see someone else hiding it. He followed the thread that marked the planet Mon Calamari back through time. He saw the Empire invade and take slaves from the population. Further back he saw Jedi, twenty or so working together in a group. He focused in on that time.

_The Quarren laid his burden carefully on the central plinth. "I hope the one who finds this is worthy."_

_The human beside him smiled ruefully. "You should know better than to doubt Master Yoda." He examined the bundle carefully. "Will the waterproofing hold? The last thing we need is to ruin the future by electrocuting this child."_

_The Quarren laughed, his facial tentacles writhing. "Do you not think that living on this world has let us perfect the art of waterproofing?"_

_The human shrugged. "You have a point." He slapped his college on the shoulder. "Come, we should seal this before the locals find us."_

_Together outside the cavern the twenty Jedi joined hands in a barrier between the entrance and the rest of the world. Slowly the entrance faded, to be replaced with solid rock baring a familiar symbol._

Good. Now where is it? wondered Joe.

_The Quarren turned to his companion. "Where are you bound now Master Jinn?"_

_"A world called Endor," the one which had been called Jinn replied. "I have been charged with hiding another lightsabre there."_

_The Quarren smiled. "And what of your Padawan Learner?"_

_"Young Obi-Wan waits in the lodgings we secured in the nearby village of Ch'nator. I have no doubt that he will be getting most impatient."_

_The Quarren smiled. "May I walk with you my friend? I should like to enjoy my homeland while I can."_

_Master Jinn nodded his assent. "It is a pleasant half hour walk made doubly pleasurable by your company old friend."_

Joe grinned to himself. He'd found it.

Gomamon bounded up to Joe as the boy descended the ships landing ramp. "Heya Joe! Did ya see any stuff?"

Joe knelt and nodded, playfully ruffling Gomamon's Mohawk. "Yeah I saw stuff. Some important stuff."

Doyle joined them. "And would this important stuff include where your lightsabre is?"

"Yes it does." Joe stood up again. "It's about a half an hour walk from a village called Ch'nator."

"Huh." Doyle reached into his pocket and pulled out a comlink. He thumbed the activation switch. "Feona?"

"Doyle?" came her reply, sounding tinny and distorted.

"He found it," summed up Doyle.

"Right," Doyle could imagine Feona nodding as she spoke. "Be there in an hour." The comlink beeped as she broke the connection.

Doyle pocketed it again. "So now we wait for Feona to come back, then go get your lightsabre." He started to move off. "I'll go tell Sora."

"Yay!" Gomamon bounded forwards. "I can go swim some more."

Joe moved quickly and snared his partner's tail, halting Gomamon's headlong rush. "Oh no. I don't want you going."

"Oh Joe," whined Gomamon, "Why can't I go for a swim?"

Joe pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Doyle told me you'd been making a nuisance of yourself and scaring the local kids."

"So?"

Joe shook his head to get rid off the _déjà vu_. "Look, I don't want you to cause trouble."

Gomamon turned his most innocent expression on Joe. "I won't cause any trouble Joe, I promise."

Joe stood up as he saw Birdramon flying past. "Looks like trouble found us." _Sora? What's going on?_

_Digimon, _replied Sora, her simulated voice giving off worry. _Some squid thing called Gesomon in the water. We need help, Birdramon's fire attacks are useless in the water._

_I'm on it. _Joe held out his digivice. "Sora's got trouble at the beach. I think maybe that swim of yours would be a good idea."

Gomamon nodded. "Gomamon digivolve to… Ikkakumon."

Joe used the Force to leap up onto Ikkakumon's back, then the large digimon started to lope down the track leading to the beach. Once at the waterfront Ikkakumon skidded to a halt, allowing Joe to drop off his back and stand beside Sora and Doyle. The digimon then lolloped on into the surf and swam towards where Birdramon was attacking Gesomon.

Doyle turned his head on its side. "You know, every time I start to think my life is crazy something else happens."

Joe watched as Ikkakumon finished off Gesomon, making the squid-like digimon dissolve in a shower of black particles. "This is business as usual for us."

Sora grinned. "Yeah. Anytime someone isn't trying to kill us is unusual."

"This is the spot."

Feona raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Seems awfully plain."

Sora shook her head. "No, see there?" She traced out a shape on the rock.

"A cross?" asked Doyle.

"My crest, reliability," supplied Joe. He walked up to the rock face. "I suppose I just touch it."

"Well what are you waiting for?" grinned Gomamon.

Joe nodded and put a hand flat against the rough surface. A silver glow spread out from his hand to cover the embossed crest, then faded leaving only a doorway. "It should be safe inside," said Joe. "When I saw them place the sabre there weren't any traps around."

"Quite possibly the sheer challenge of finding this spot was the safeguard." Feona reached into her satchel and pulled out a glowrod. "Here."

Joe flicked it on and moved into the entranceway, the others close behind him.

Inside was exactly as he had seen, except it was no longer new and spiders and other creatures had made their homes in the walls. He moved to where he knew the plinth would be, raising the glowrod so its feeble illumination would carry further. On the plinth was the same bundle as he had seen the Quarren place there. Indeed the waterproofing had held.

Joe passed the glowrod to Sora, then carefully unwrapped the bundle. Into his hand rolled the hilt of a lightsabre. It was predominantly black with silver highlights. "Wow."

"Hey," chimed in Gomamon. "Let me see!"

Joe smiled ruefully and knelt next to his partner.

"That's it? We came all this way for a stick?"

Joe sighed and stood, clipping his lightsabre onto his belt. "Now what?"

Doyle shrugged. "Best speed to Bespin?" he asked Feona, "Or is there still some stuff you want to say to your folks?"

Feona took the glowrod off Sora. "Let's get going. There's nothing for me here." She led the way out of the cave. "Oh Sithspit!"

"What?" asked Doyle. Then he saw the huge snake-like creature. "Oh hell."

"_Thunder Javelin_!" called out the creature, sending a wave of energy at the group. They all dived to the side as the bolt passed overhead.

"Gomamon!" called out Joe.

The small seal digimon ran to the ocean and leapt in, surfacing as Ikkakumon.

"That's MegaSeadramon," said Biyomon. "He's an Ultimate digimon."

Joe nodded. "Did you hear that Ikkakumon?"

"Just give the word Joe." Ikkakumon continued to advance on MegaSeadramon.

Under Joe's shirt his crest lit up and his digivice started to vibrate in his clenched fist.

"Ikkakumon digivolve to… Zudomon!"

MegaSeadramon's _Thunder Javelin _coruscated over Zudomon's horn.

"_Vulcan's Hammer_!" Zudomon brought his hammer down in a crushing blow to the sea dragon's head. MegaSeadramon dissolved in a spray of black dust.

"That's my digimon!" crowed Joe.

Zudomon's form glowed and contracted, leaving Bukamon zipping across the surface of the water back to Joe. "Let's get out of here before any more of Myotismon's goons show up."

Feona nodded. "Let's get going to Bespin."

Gatomon watched Gabumon as she approached, looking for any sigh that the digimon would try to escape. Carefully she set down a bowl of food in front of him.

"Look at you."

Gabumon took the bowl in his hands and sniffed the food. "At least its edible this time."

Gatomon refused to be ignored. "Look at you, all wrapped up in chains."

Gabumon looked her straight in the eye. "At least I know someone has a hold of me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gatomon bared her claws. "I could take you now Rookie."

"You could," conceded Gabumon, "But you'd still be a prisoner." He tugged at the chains holding him, not in any attempt to escape, but to remind Gatomon of there presence. "The chains that bind you are ten times as many."

"At least I'm not some human's pet," she spat back.

Gabumon shook his head sadly. "You don't understand. Matt isn't my master, he's my friend. We each complete the other."

"I need no one," claimed Gatomon.

Gabumon nodded slowly. "That may be, but that just makes you lonely for something you will never have."

"I used to think there was someone for me, but she never came." Gatomon bowed her head. "_He _did instead."

Gabumon nodded. "Pain instead of joy, fear instead of trust. I can imagine."

"No you can't!" Gatomon swiped out, leaving three scored marks across Gabumon's chest where her claws passed. "You can't imagine what he put me through to make me stronger. You just have a little box that beeps and hey presto you digivolve. You have no idea how the real world works. We fight and if we're not strong enough we die." She clenched her fists. "We have no one to help us or protect us. We're alone."

Gabumon patted her shoulder awkwardly. "You're not alone. You have friends. I see you talking to Wizardmon and I can see you are close."

Gatomon slapped away his hand. "You know nothing. Wizardmon and I just had to co-ordinate some things." She stalked off, her tail lashing.

Gabumon choked down about half of his food, which he decided might not have been edible after all.

"Gabumon."

Gabumon looked up. "Matt!"

Matt swayed from side to side slightly, as if blown by the wind. Gabumon could see dark circles lining his friend's eyes. "We've got work to do." He bent over Gabumon's chains and unfastened them.

"Matt…" Gabumon put a hand on Matt's shoulder, feeling the boy's tiredness. "You need to sleep."

"I can't," Matt rubbed his brow. "I have so much that needs to be done. I have to get T.K. back."

"T.K. is safe with Tai."

Matt laughed hollowly. "Kamiya couldn't keep Fort Knox safe." He voiced dropped. "Besides, I owe him."

Gabumon could see in Matt's eyes what Matt though the payment should be and he didn't like it at all. "Matt, Tai is your friend."

Matt laughed again, then stood up and shaded his eyes. "Our ride is here."

Gabumon squinted up through the sunlight to see a ship with wings placed every hundred and twenty degrees. As he watched the bottom wings folded up until they almost touched tips with the topmost wing. The ship landed and lowered a ramp.

"Come on Gabumon," said Matt. "My instrument of retaliation waits on Hoth."

Authors Notes: - Not quite so long this time but that's cause I don't really get on with writing for Joe.

Next chapter should be Mimi and Izzy again.

Guest appearance by my favourite Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn.

*Wave hand like Liam Neeson* You will review this fic.

Check out http://www.orangeandpurple.btinternet.co.uk/jedimain.htm where some absolutely fabulous artwork by Pinali resides, showing what the Jedi-Destined look like.


	17. Endor-Nature's Way

Izzy watched the remote warily as it hissed its way around the ship's lounge. He held his lightsabre in the standard _en guarde _position, its purple light casting deep shadows on his face. He felt the small machine gather its charge to fire and brought his sabre round, catching the bolt about a third of the way up on his blade. The remote sent out four more bolts in quick succession, and Izzy moved his lightsabre to and fro with an economy of movement, picking the bolts off before they could reach him.

The remote beeped and settled to the ground. Izzy brought his sabre round to the _en guarde _position again, then tilled it upwards in a salute before flicking the power off.

"Getting better?" asked Leia from the doorway.

Izzy shrugged and clipped the lightsabre back on his belt. "Let's just say I don't think I'm going to loose an arm by accident." He moved to one of the couches and sat down.

Leia joined him. "Still no luck on understanding the prophecy?"

Izzy shook his head. "Nothing since I got 'Castle Door' figured out."

"You did?" asked Leia.

Izzy nodded. "I though I told Threepio to tell you."

"Ah." Leia looked away guiltily. "Last time I saw him he started to babble so I switched him off."

Izzy laughed. "I can see why that might happen. 'I am fluent in over six million forms of communication…' He keeps trying to complete his spiel every time he sees me."

Leia nodded. "I remember." She looked thoughtful. "So what's this about understanding what the 'Castle Door' is?"

"Well," started Izzy, happy to be in his element. "When I first found the prophecy I considered that it referred to an engraving placed near or on one of the temple's doors, however I could see no logical reason why it would warn us of sorrow. Then I decided to follow the line of reasoning that if one of our names had been referenced obliquely maybe others were." Izzy grinned. "In short the 'Castle Door' is Joe."

Leia frowned. "In your language Joe means 'Castle Door'?"

Izzy shook his head. "No, and that's what threw me. Joe's family name is Kido. _That _translates to 'Castle Door'. It didn't seem unreasonable to suggest that Joe will have a vision of some description that will warn me and 'The One-who-is-many', whoever he is, not to do something."

A roaring noise came fro the cockpit.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Shall we join him?"

Leia nodded and together they made their way to the cockpit where Chewbacca and Wedge were working the controls.

Chewbacca roared in greeting, then pulled the hyperspace levers, dropping the _Millennium Falcon _back into normal space.

Izzy examined the view. "Fascinating."

Leia nodded. "The rings were caused by the destruction of the second Death Star. Those are chunks of debris from the explosion." She turned to Chewbacca. "Make sure you avoid the point where the reactor orbited."

As Chewbacca growled his acknowledgement Izzy turned to Leia. "Why must we avoid it? Is there a high concentration of radiation there?"

Leia shook her head. "No. It would just be less than pleasant for us. When the Emperor died he released a vast amount of Dark side energy. The last time I was here I was to make a rendezvous in orbit and we passed right through the point where he had died." She shuddered. "I have no wish to repeat the experience."

"I can imagine," replied Izzy.

The door to the cockpit slid open again and Mimi stumbled in, rubbing her eyes. "Did someone just turn the AC way up?" she asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

"AC?" asked Leia.

"Air conditioning," supplied Izzy.

Leia looked puzzled. "We don't even have air conditioning. It gets re-circulated, but not moved around like that."

Mimi sighed. "Well it's blowing straight at that planet."

"It's a moon, Mimi," corrected Izzy.

Mimi put her hands on her hips. "Well I don't care what it is, I want it to stop sucking air."

Leia turned to Izzy. "The marker?" she asked.

Izzy nodded. "That would be my guess." His eyes twinkled. "Maybe Mimi sees it as a breeze because she's full of hot air."

"Hey!" Mimi playfully cuffed Izzy round the head.

Chewbacca made a wuffling laugh.

"Oh be quiet you hairball," scolded Mimi.

Wedge snorted. "Careful Mimi, Wookiees are known to rip the arms off of people they don't like."

"Well I'm safe. I need my arms to use my lightsabre." Mimi stuck her tongue out at Chewbacca.

Chewbacca growled out the observation that she only needed _one _arm to wield a sabre.

Izzy and Leia laughed.

Wedge looked confused. "What he say?"

"Still can't speak Wookiee then?" asked Leia.

Wedge bent back over his controls. "I am so going to kill Wes when I next see him."

The _Falcon _landed, its repulsorlifts blowing up a layer of leaf littler from the forest floor. The dust cleared and the landing ramp dropped. Chewbacca exited first, cautiously sniffing the air. He let out a low moan then the others descended.

"Mimi?" asked Leia.

Mimi closed her eyes and turned on the spot for a few moments. She then opened her eyes and pointed. "It's over there."

Wedge adjusted his green-camouflage poncho. "Any idea how far? I don't want to run into the native wildlife very much."

"What? Ewoks?" asked Izzy. "They seemed pretty harmless to me," he said, thinking of walking teddy bears.

Wedge shook his head. "Not Ewoks. Ever considered why they live in trees?"

"Oh." Izzy adjusted his laptop's carry case.

Leia strode forwards. "Let's get moving. We need to do this quickly to get back to Hoth."

Mimi turned to Izzy. "I don't understand."

"Endor is way out on the Outer Rim," explained Izzy. "While Hoth is close, we have to backtrack our route here so that we stay within the safe areas of hyperspace." He started to follow Leia. "Plus it's probably not safe to be down on the ground at night."

Mimi shrugged and followed on.

Threepio followed on behind her, looking slightly comical in his green fatigues and hat. "I don't see why you felt it necessary to bring me, Mistress Leia," he complained. "After all Master Koushiro and Mistress Mimi seem to already have translators."

Wedge shook his head. "We can't guarantee that they'll handle Ewok."

"Plus it's always handy to have the local deity along for the ride," added Leia. "Worse comes to the worse we'll pull the same trick Luke did."

"Oh my." Threepio thought about the short time his sensor had reported an abnormal elevation reading. While it was impossible for a droid to feel vertigo, he did feel some discomfort when his sensors informed him of something happening that was impossible.

Wedge patted his shoulder. "Don't worry Threepio, I'm sure it won't come to that."

Izzy frowned slightly. "Hey, are there supposed to be electronics around here?" he asked.

"Just an old Imp base a few klicks away," supplied Wedge. "Same one you blew up Princess."

Izzy shrugged. "Well something is still working there. There's a current flowing round."

Leia shook her head. "It can't be anything important. We nearly levelled the place. I'm surprised that anything would still be working."

Izzy nodded. "My point exactly. Unless the Ewoks have made some technical advances while you have been absent there's no way that there should be this level of activity."

Wedge shrugged. "We'll just send in a report when this is all over and get some troops in to check it out."

Chewbacca let out a growl, and started to move through the trees.

"Not again," sighed Leia, following on behind.

Sure enough Chewbacca had found one of the traps the Ewok had set in their forest, baited with a large hunk of meat. The Wookiee eyed the food nervously, remembering what happened the last time he had taken food from the trees on this planet.

Tentomon on the other hand had no desire to let good food go to waste. "I sure am hungry."

Izzy started forwards. "Tento, don't. It may be a…"

Tentomon grabbed the hanging meat and the group were lifted off their feet by the giant net trap that now enfolded them.

"Trap," finished Izzy. He winced as Threepio's arm dug into his chest. "Anyone got an idea for how to get out?"

Wedge reached up to where the main rope that held the net above the ground was. "I can reach the release. Anyone got something sharp?"

"Lightsabre," replied Izzy and Leia.

Palmon spoke up from the bottom of the net. "I can get Leia's sabre, but I don't think I need to."

"Why's that Palmon?" asked Wedge.

The net dropped, landing the group in a muddled heap of arms and legs. As they struggled to untangle themselves they found a ring of Ewoks surrounding them, all bearing primitive spears and knives.

Mimi was the first to speak. "Oh they're so _cute_!" Her eyes took on a shiny quality.

Izzy eyed the spears. "I wouldn't call them cute. I'd call them dangerous."

"Oh my." Threepio struggled to a sitting position.

The Ewoks started an undulating chant, bowing in a rhythmical fashion.

Chewbacca growled out an observation.

"Yes I know this is what happened before you hairy creature," twittered Threepio. "And I'll thank you to keep your observations to yourself." He then turned to the nearest Ewok and started to chitter away in their language.

Leia raised an eyebrow at Izzy, but the young boy shook his head. _Too bad. It would've been nice if we didn't have to rely on Threepio to translate._

Threepio stopped chittering. "They say that we should accompany them to their village Princess Leia. Apparently their chief will want to speak with us."

Leia stood up and dusted herself down. "Tell them to lead on Threepio."

The Ewok village was a group of huts built on platforms many stories up, hanging from the trees. Walkways connected the small mud and thatch houses to each other and in a central plaza a huge bonfire burned, surrounded by the tribes mothers, children and elders.

Wedge remembered fondly the party that they'd had round just such a fire, after the Death Star had been destroyed. It had seemed like the Empire had died that night.

And now, seven years later he was still fighting it. Every time he chopped off one of the monsters heads another would grow in its place.

He could almost hear the drums.

Threepio brought the procession to a halt in front of what was obviously the chief of the village, judging by his elaborate headdress.

The Ewok bowed low to Leia and chattered away.

"Oh my," said Threepio. "This chap says that he is glad to see you again Princess. He hopes that this time our treatment was better at the hands of his tribe."

Leia frowned. "Wicket?"

"Yub yub," agreed the Ewok.

Leia smiled at Wicket. "Threepio, tell him I'm happy to see him again."

Threepio started to gibber in Ewok again.

Izzy shook his head. "The odds of us finding the same tribe that once helped you must be staggering." He mouthed some numbers silently. "Over twenty thousand I believe."

"Twenty thousand, four hundred and ninety eight to one," corrected Threepio. He listened to Wicket speaking again. "He asks if we've come to save them from the white shells and their metal dragons again."

"White shells?" asked Leia.

Mimi looked around the village, completely oblivious to the exchange. "I think I'm close."

Wedge held out a hand. "Why don't Izzy, Tentomon, Palmon and I go with Mimi, Princess? Then you could stay here with Wicket and find out about this."

"Achieve two things within the same timeframe." Leia nodded. "Fine, but make sure you're back before nightfall. I don't want you to fall prey to some local predator."

"We'll be careful," assured Wedge.

Mimi started to move forwards, guided by the 'breeze'. Palmon kept by her side, eyes darting back and forth watching for trouble. Wedge sighed and followed, Izzy and Tentomon at his side.

Mimi led them a short way from the village, to the base of a huge tree. In moss was her crest outlined against the bark. She held out a hand and placed it against the symbol. A glow spread out from where her hand rested until it covered the whole symbol. It then faded to reveal a passage winding down beneath the ground. Mimi walked in, not seeing what was going on around her.

Wedge raised an eyebrow to Izzy. "Do we follow?"

Izzy considered for a moment, then nodded. "We should stay well back though." Izzy took a look at the dark passage, then unclipped his lightsabre and flicked it on. A purple glow suffused the tunnel.

Together the two humans and digimon followed Mimi to a large underground chamber. A pale green light lit a huge room. Izzy switched off his sabre and examined the walls. As far as the eye could see were lightsabres in pigeonholes, each exactly the same as the others.

Wedge let out a low whistle. "Imagine what Exar Kun could do with all of these."

Tentomon took to the air and flew up to what Izzy imagined was the ceiling. The digimon returned. "They keep going all the way up."

Mimi meanwhile hand moved to the centre of the room and had placed her hand on a glowing green crystal there. A hologram sprang to life.

"_If you have come for the lightsabre of Sincerity, then you may take it._" The holographic human's face twisted into a cruel smile. "_If you can find it._" The hologram winked out again.

Mimi appeared to come out of her trance. "How am I going to find it in here in this empty room?"

"Empty?" asked Palmon. "It's full of lightsabres!"

Mimi shook her head. "All I see is empty holes."

Izzy thought a moment. "Mimi, I bet that to everyone else all these lightsabres seem real. I think they are all illusions except for yours."

Wedge nodded. "Makes sense. You must be the only one whose senses can't be fooled by these."

"What?" asked Mimi. "You guys aren't making any sense."

Izzy sighed. "Mimi, where you see empty holes, we see sabres. Hundreds of them. It would take years to go through them all individually."

A light dawned behind Mimi's eyes. "So I just have to look around and find just one sabre hidden here? That's it?"

Izzy nodded. "That's it."

Mimi shaded her eyes and looked around. "I don't see it." She eyed the empty pigeonholes. "And I don't want to climb. I might fall and get hurt!"

Izzy sighed. "I can't raise you Mimi, and even if Tentomon digivolved this room would be too small for Kabuterimon to fly."

Palmon shook her head. "My Poison Ivy isn't strong enough to lift you either."

Wedge snapped his fingers. "I have an idea." He turned to Tentomon. "Tento, you saw the roof?" The bug digimon nodded. "Well then," continued Wedge, "Where there any tree roots up there forming loops?"

"Yes," agreed Tentomon, "But I don't see how that can help."

Wedge grinned. "Let's go topside and find some vines."

Izzy grinned back. "I like how you think."

"I don't like this," protested Mimi as Wedge tied the vines in a loop around her waist. "The vines could snap, or you could drop me or…"

Wedge tugged the last knot tight. "You're still doing most of the work, Mimi. This is just in case you slip and fall."

Izzy passed the free end of the vine rope to Tentomon. "You know what to do?"

Tentomon nodded and flew up to the ceiling. He passed the vine through the sturdiest looking root loop, then let the end drop back down to the ground.

Izzy picked it up and took up the slack. "You'll be fine Mimi. This just in case you fall. We're not hauling you up and down."

Mimi sighed in defeat and shrugged off her long outer robe. "I just _know_ that you'll mess up and let me fall." She walked up to one of the walls and put a foot hesitantly into one of the pigeonholes. She stepped up, listening for the ominous creak that would suggest that it was breaking. When no creak came she gingerly hauled herself up and reached for a higher point.

"Hey Mimi," called Izzy from his station on the rope. "Keep three points in contact at all times. Means you won't over balance."

"'Kay," called Mimi back, still climbing. She started to get into a rhythm and climbed until her hand brushed something in the next handhold. She felt around in the hole, then brought out a long metal cylinder. She leaned out and waved it at the group on the ground. "I found it!"

"Be careful!" called back Wedge.

Mimi overbalanced and fell off the wall screaming. She swung around on the safety line and eventually stopped screaming once she realised she was no longer falling. She came to rest slightly off centre of the room.

On the ground Izzy, Wedge, Palmon and Tentomon started the careful task of lowering her to the ground.

"You okay Mimi?" called up Palmon.

Mimi caught her breath, her heart still hammering in her chest. "I'm fine Palmon."

Suddenly a snap was heard throughout the chamber. "Hurry up!" called Mimi.

The group started to lower her faster, then another snap was heard and Mimi dropped like a stone, screaming all the while.

Wedge saw Izzy hold out a hand from the corner of his eye and wondered what good it would do. His query was answered a moment later when Mimi again stopped falling, suspended in mid air.

She floated gently down and Wedge risked taking his eyes off her for a moment to check on Izzy.

The young boy had one arm out, palm up, hand cupped like he was holding something. His arm was shaking with strain. His face was contorted in some bizarre combination of strain and pain and Wedge could see tears leaking out from behind Izzy's closed eyelids and down his cheeks. Clearly Izzy had been right when he had said that he couldn't lift Mimi.

Wedge moved to beneath where Mimi was floating and held his arms out, ready to catch Mimi when Izzy's strength gave out. Twenty feet from the ground she started to drop again and from the corner of his eye Wedge saw Izzy drop to the floor. Then Mimi was upon him, knocking Wedge to the ground. Thankfully he managed to defuse most of the kinetic energy of the falling girl, resulting in both him and her only gaining a few bruises.

Mimi was up again in a flash and checking on Izzy.

Wedge joined her in time to see Izzy's eyes flutter open.

Izzy smiled. "I see I managed to get you low enough then." He sat up slowly and wiped a hand across his mouth, coming away with blood.

Wedge realised that Izzy must have bitten his lip in concentration. He patted the boy's back. "You gave me enough time to get under her to catch her. You did good."

Mimi hugged Izzy, burying her head in his shoulder. "Thank you Izzy. If you hadn't caught me I'd be dead."

Izzy hugged her back. "I'm just glad you're okay." He released her. "But please don't do it again. I don't think I could take the strain." His eyes twinkled in jest.

Mimi punched his shoulder lightly. "Like you'd ever drop me."

Tentomon and Palmon fussed round their respective humans.

"Don't ever do something like that again," scolded Palmon, handing Mimi back her cloak.

"You too Izzy," said Tentomon. "I don't want to have to get another partner."

Wedge raised an eyebrow. "And how is it, Mimi, that you can drop a good six stories and not drop your lightsabre?" he asked, pointing to the hilt she still held.

Mimi looked at it. "I have no idea." She helped Izzy to his feet. "Let's get back. I think it's starting to get dark."

Izzy found his eyelids drooping as he watched the fire crackling. He could hear Wedge and Leia talking with Wicket through Threepio somewhere nearby and Mimi and Palmon were playing with some of the Ewoks young, emitting high pitched shrieks every now and again. His head tilted forwards, then snapped back as Izzy forced himself to stay awake.

"If you're tired Izzy then why don't you sleep?" asked Tentomon, lying next to Izzy.

Izzy patted the back of Tentomon's carapace. "They might need me for something."

Tentomon made an electric sounding buzz of annoyance. "With that argument you'll never sleep."

Izzy smiled. "I suppose you're right Tento." He pulled the green and brown poncho that he'd been wearing for camouflage off over his head and rolled it into a crude pillow. "Wake me if they need me." He laid down and rested his head on his pillow. "Good night." His eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep almost instantly.

Tentomon joined him in sleep a moment later.

Wedge shook his head. "I don't understand," he said to Leia. "Why would the Imps have come back? There's nothing of value here."

Leia shook her head. "I don't understand either, but that's what Wicket meant by the 'White shells' and their 'dragons'. There are storm troopers at the old shield generator, along with some AT-STs."

Wedge winced. The All-Terrain Scout Transport or AT-ST would decimate the Ewoks if that were its intention. "We need to get rid off them."

"They're after us."

Wedge and Leia turned to see Mimi listening to their hushed conversation.

"What do you mean?" asked Leia.

"When we first arrived the Empire captured us," supplied Mimi. "If it wasn't for Feona and Doyle being there we would've been taken straight to that evil Jedi on Yavin." She put her hands on her hips. "They're obviously working for that creepy guy and Myotismon."

Wedge frowned. "Then there's probably some digimon there as well." He turned to Leia. "We can't wait for the Republic to sort this out, we have to do it for ourselves."

Leia nodded. "We'll leave at daybreak." She looked over at the sleeping form of Izzy. "Poor kid. He seems to be wearing himself out over this."

Wedge looked sad. "He holds himself responsible for too much. Looking after Mimi, deciphering the prophecy, saving Matt…" He shook his head. "That's too much responsibility for one kid."

Leia smiled. "Let's not wake him. He'll find out about all this soon enough tomorrow."

Leia shook her head to remove the _déjà vu _that crouching behind the hill in front of the old Imperial installation created. She popped her head up over the brow of the hill, then ducked back down again. "I see maybe twenty troopers, two AT-STs and three digimon."

Izzy took his own glance over the hill. "That's Snimon, he attacked us on Coruscant." He looked at the others. "I don't recognise the other two." He pulled out his laptop and pointed it at the group. "Gotsumon and Pumpkinmon."

Mimi tapped the screen and earned a glare from Izzy. "That Pumpkinmon was at the temple when the Triceramon attacked."

"So what now?" asked Wedge. "I don't think our blasters and a group of Ewoks with spears will hurt them and there aren't enough of us to attack twenty troopers."

Leia glanced at Chewbacca. "We could try to take over one of the AT-ST like last time."

Izzy glanced at Tentomon and Palmon. "We've only got two Champion digimon against a Rookie, a Champion and an Ultimate." He looked unhappy. "MegaKabuterimon wouldn't be able to function in such an enclosed space."

Mimi clapped her hands. "I've got an idea!"

Izzy stared at her in disbelief.

"When the digimon attacked us at the temple Pumpkinmon ran when MetalGreymon attacked," explained Mimi.

"So if they think we outnumber them…" said Wedge.

"They'll just run," finished Izzy. "Good thinking Mimi."

Leia looked worried. "Can you produce illusions of many digimon?"

Mimi shook her head. "I don't know. I've never tried."

Izzy ticked off points on his fingers. "Since we already have two champion level digimon we could do with some Ultimates. Can you create a convincing Weregarurumon and MetalGreymon?"

Mimi nodded slowly. "I think so. But I'm not sure if they'll move properly and any attacks they make won't cause damage."

Leia shook her head. "We don't need that. We just need to scare them and cause confusion long enough so that we can take out the troopers." She turned to Chewbacca. "If you can take over one of the walkers like last time, then the battle will be over before it begins."

Chewbacca roared his ascent.

Wedge turned to Mimi and Izzy. "You stay here undercover. You don't know what to do in a light fight."

Izzy shook his head. "No way. I'm the best weapon you've got." He tapped his chest. "They keep shooting, I keep coming."

Wedge nodded. "Then can you, Threepio, ask for a few of the Ewoks to stay here and protect Mimi while she keeps the illusion up?"

"Of course General Antilles." Threepio turned to the Ewoks and began to chitter. Three of them broke away from the group and went to stand by Mimi.

Wedge nodded. "We wait for Chewy to get in position, then we attack and distract them while he breaks in."

"And hope they run," added Leia. "They must have space worthy shuttles around somewhere, or else how did they get here?"

Chewbacca moved away from the group and started to climb one of the nearby trees. Wedge watched the large shadow slink through the treetops and stop near the first walker. Wedge took a silent poll.

Leia gripped her blaster and nodded. Izzy unclipped his lightsabre and his thumb hovered over the activation switch.

Wedge turned to the digimon. "When you're ready."

The two digimon nodded and digivolved, throwing the clearing into shadow with the light.

Wedge blinked a few times. Whatever he had expected Palmon to change to, he hadn't expected that.

The two real digimon were joined by two illusionary ones. As he had guessed the storm troopers remained in shocked silence a moment before firing.

As the first shots few across the clearing Wedge and Leia stood and started to fire methodically, dropping troopers left and right. Izzy strode forwards, purple sabre blazing, knocking back the bolts towards their originators. Kabuterimon and Togemon together went after Snimon as Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon fled before the images of MetalGreymon and Weregarurumon.

Then the two illusionary digimon fizzled out.

Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon laughed and started to advance again.

Mimi's eyes snapped open at the sound of blasters firing. Her honour guard fell to the methodical blasts that the storm trooper fired. She lost her focus as she stared at the dying Ewoks.

"How could you?" she asked the impassive figure.

The storm trooper sighted on her. "Surrender or die."

Mimi began to cry. "What did they ever do to you? They were here to protect me, they weren't even attacking."

"Surrender or die," repeated the trooper. "I'd prefer die."

Anger blazed in Mimi's eyes. "You're a monster. You killed these poor creatures just for fun." She stood, tears running down her face. "I won't let them be forgotten." Under her robes a green trapezium started to glow and a fierce breeze whipped her hair to and fro. "I won't let evil win."

In the clearing Togemon began to glow, her form contracting. "Togemon digivolve to… Lillymon!" Lillymon swept down to where the trooper was standing. "_Flower Cannon!_" The big green hoop of energy struck the troopers chest plate, burning through it as efficiently as a blaster bolt did. The dead trooper folded like a puppet with its strings suddenly cut.

"You okay Mimi?" asked the sprite digimon.

Mimi nodded slowly, realising what had happened. "I'm okay Lillymon. I just need some space."

Lillymon was about to ask further when Kabuterimon yelled from the other side of the clearing.

"Little help here?"

Lillymon flew off to where Kabuterimon was fending off Snimon as the other two evil digimon advanced. "_Flower Cannon_!" Snimon disappeared in a cloud of black dust. Together Kabuterimon and Lillymon turned to face Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon.

"Hubba hubba!" exclaimed the two evil digimon together.

"You doing anything later?" asked Pumpkinmon to Lillymon.

"Aren't you going to attack us?" asked Kabuterimon.

"Hell no," replied Gotsumon. "We're just here to sightsee."

"But you work for Myotismon," said Lillymon. "Surely he sent you to destroy us or capture us."

"Eh," said Pumpkinmon. "Like we'd ever try to destroy something as pretty as you. We're just here to enjoy the party."

"So what will you do now?" asked Izzy, joining the group.

"Didn't see you, couldn't've stopped you if you were here," replied Gotsumon glibly. "Go back, and wait out the rest of this wild ride."

"Listen," said Pumpkinmon. "I'm sure you're gonna come back to Yavin soon." He grinned. "Well when you get there, you've got friends waiting for you."

Izzy smiled. "Thanks a lot." He returned to where Leia and Wedge were guarding the three remaining troopers, along with Tentomon and Tanemon.

"We set to go?" asked Wedge.

Izzy nodded. "Let's leave this place so the Ewoks can burry their dead."

Kyp sat in the pilot's chair of the Sun Crusher, quietly seething. That silly little blue Omwat had thought that the Death Stars were designed to benefit all creatures. She'd thought that the Empire would use them for a good and noble purpose.

_Huh. Like blowing up Alderaan._

He caught her in the Coruscant botanical gardens. A member of the Palace Guard had guarded her, but he'd been no match for a Jedi Knight.

_Or at least a near Jedi Knight._

Kyp had reached into her mind and ripped from her the knowledge of the workings of the Sun Crusher. He'd then obliterated the remains so that she could never build another machine capable of destroying whole planets. Never destroy another life.

And now he was going to save more lives. The life of his brother.

The Empire had taken him from his family on Kessel and sent him to Cadria to serve the Empire in their naval fleet.

_Well I'm going to get him back._

Mimi sat in the lounge and avoided Izzy's gaze. Likewise Tanemon's gentle inquiries as to what was the matter.

Finally Izzy left the room, followed by Tentomon, for the cockpit. "Excuse me, Leia?"

"What is it Izzy?" she asked.

"Could you talk to Mimi? She seems upset about something, and she won't talk to me." He sat in a spare chair.

Leia nodded. "I'll try." She left the cockpit to find Mimi staring into space. "Hey."

Mimi held out her lightsabre. "Here, I want you to have this."

Leia shook her head. "I already have one. That's yours."

"I'm not worthy of it." Mimi put her head in her hands. "I'm not worthy of anything the ancient Jedi left for us."

"I don't understand," said Leia.

Mimi looked at Leia with tear-reddened eyes. "That trooper, the one that shot all those Ewoks…" Mimi started to cry again. "At that moment all I wanted to do was reach into his mind and make him walk off a cliff, or put that gun of his to his head and pull the trigger." She patted Tanemon's leafy top. "If it hadn't been for Lillymon I would've."

Leia hugged Mimi gently. "That was the Dark side calling you."

Mimi nodded. "And what sort of person does that make me? That I'd listen to the thing which drove Matt crazy."

Leia shook her head. "You may've considered it, but that's a long way from doing. My brother," her voice caught slightly, "used to tell me 'Do or do not, there is no try'. It's what we _do_ that matters, not what we think."

"But that's where Lillymon came from. From hate and fear and rage." Mimi sniffed. "How can I justify that? Surely that makes it just the same as if I'd killed him myself."

"Would he have killed you?" asked Leia.

Mimi hesitated, then nodded.

"Well then," continued Leia. "It seems to me that it was self defence. You heard the Dark side's call, but you didn't use it. That just proves how strong you are."

Mimi shook her head. "I can't believe that. It was wrong."

Leia sighed. "Mimi, the world is not black and white. More often than not it's a shade of grey." She patted the girl's shoulder. "We can't make the _right _decision, just the one that's least wrong. Seems to me that's what you did."

Mimi nodded slowly. "I'd like to be alone. I have a lot to think about."

Leia nodded, patted Mimi's shoulder again, then walked back out to the cockpit.

"So?" asked Wedge from the controls.

Leia sighed. "It's complicated, and I don't think Mimi would want me to talk about it behind her back."

Wedge nodded. "I can understand." He checked his board. "We're arriving at Hoth in three hours."

"I hope the others were successful in their ventures," said Izzy.

"Me too," added Leia.

Authors Notes: - Well four sabres down, two to go, then a big showdown with Matt.

Another piece of the prophecy is revealed, and NO ONE has yet figured it out. Hee I'm evil!

Some character growth for Mimi… Wow, who'd have though she'd have a character to grow?

Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon, well they'll be back again.

Kyp, well Wedge has a score to settle with him, even if he doesn't know it yet. (For those of you who don't know, Qwi Xux was an Omwat.)

Anyone wanting to know exactly what happened the last time Leia, Chewy and Wedge were on Endor go rent a copy of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Special Edition, and witness the Hyper Ewok Dance of Joy.


	18. Tanaab-Eat, Drink and be Merry...

Authors Note: - This takes place concurrently with the previous chapter.

The _lambda _class shuttle _Soaring Star _landed in a field of freshly cropped stalks on the planet of Tanaab, in a specially cordoned off area. It settled gently, barely disturbing the rest of the field apart from sending a light breeze through the abruptly cut off stalks.

When whine of the repulsorlifts died away a flock of children approached the landing ramp of the shuttle. As soon as Janson appeared at the doorway several overeager children mobbed him.

"Ack! Hobbie help!"

Hobbie smiled slightly. "Friendly aren't they?"

"Get 'em off!" yelled Janson, grinning as his nieces and nephews climbed all over him, demanding that he told them about his latest adventures.

Suddenly the mobs' attention was taken as Tai, Agumon and T.K, with Patamon in his arms, appeared at the ramp. Tai and T.K. exchanged nervous glances. "Hi?" ventured T.K.

Instantly several of the younger children clustered around him.

"Wow, what's that?" asked a brown haired girl, pointing at Patamon.

"Is he a pet?" asked a boy.

T.K. shook his head. "Nuh-uh. He's a digimon."

Patamon flapped his ears and rose out of T.K's grip. "Betcha can't catch me!" He flew off.

The boy was impressed. "You have cool toys!"

T.K. tugged at his sleeve. "Come on! Let's try and catch him!" The group of children ran off on Patamon's trail, laughing and yelling.

Janson laughed and shook his head. "Those kids never seem to run out of energy."

Some adults came out across the fields and Janson, Hobbie, Tai and Agumon moved to meet them. Janson went to one of the women and hugged her. "Myri! It's so good to see you."

Myri released him, then punched him lightly on the shoulder. "It figures. You spend all this time away, then come home the day after all the work is done."

"Huh?" Janson shook his head, confused.

Myri laughed. "Wes, the Harvest was yesterday. Today is the first day of the Harvest Celebration." She ruffled his hair playfully. "Always out playing when there's work to be done, aren't you Wes?"

Janson held his hands up. "I surrender."

Myri smiled. "Well now that's settled, how long can the Republic spare you?"

Janson shook his head sadly. "They can't, I'm here on business." He waved a hand towards Tai, then over towards where he could hear T.K. and the other children playing. "I'm on baby sitting duty."

Myri's husband Beren put a hand around her shoulder. "The great Major Janson, hero of the Republic is carting children around?" He grinned. "Who'd you annoy Wes?"

Finally the children all collapsed in a giggling heap.

Patamon floated down into T.K's arms. "Told ya you couldn't catch me!"

T.K. laughed. "We sure couldn't."

"I'm Kiri," said one of the girls. "What's your name?"

"I'm T.K. I'm a Jedi Knight."

Most of the children giggled.

"You may dress like one," said one of the boys, "But you're not Luke Skywalker. You can't make stuff fly."

"Oh come on Erin," said Kiri. "He's just a kid who wants to be a Jedi. Is that so very wrong?"

"I can too make stuff fly," said T.K. "Izzy said it was called Telekidneysis or something."

"Uh-huh," said Erin. "Then prove it."

T.K. looked around. "Um… Aha! See that pebble?" he asked. Kiri and Erin nodded. T.K. put his hand out. Slowly the pebble lifted off the ground.

"Wow! Cool!" exclaimed Erin.

T.K. waved his hand about and a few more pebbles joined it. "I'm a bit outta practice."

"_That's _out of practice?" asked another kid.

T.K. shrugged. "My brother Matt could lift something the size of a truck." He moved a finger in a stirring motion and the pebbles began to circle. "And I'm only little, so I'm not very good yet."

"That's not good?" asked another boy. "I've never seen anyone do something like that before!"

"Better be nice to him," said another one. "I heard that the Jedi could melt your brains."

T.K. laughed. "That's silly. Jedi have to promise not to hurt anyone or anything. I know Tai won't hurt anything, even if he has got a lightsabre."

"He does?" asked Kiri.

Erin leaned forwards. "Can they really cut through anything?"

"I dunno," shrugged T.K. "Tai said he fought some robot and used his lightsabre to cut its arms off, so I guess they can cut through metal."

"Do you think he'd let us play with it?"

T.K. shook his head. "Tai won't let me touch it. I don't think he'd let any of you touch it either."

Hobbie sat, lightly tapping his finger in time with the music on the long table where he sat. Every so often he could see Janson dancing with various members of his family. The wild music kept the various members of the Janson family moving through what Hobbie was beginning to recognise as a set dance. That or Janson was trying to dance with every woman present. Hobbie suspected that it could be the latter.

Finally Janson dropped into the chair next to Hobbie, his face flushed. "That was fun."

"Oh was it?" asked Hobbie. "Any of them willing to dance with me?"

Janson shook his head. "Do you think I'd willingly subject any member of my family to you?"

Hobbie clutched melodramatically at his chest. "I'm hurt."

"Oh you'll love this."

"I don't like your tone of voice Wes." Hobbie picked some of the spiced grain off his plate, then stuck it in his mouth. "That tone of voice only leads to trouble."

Wes pointed over the dance floor. "That's my Aunt. She thinks that you're too thin and is planning…"

Hobbie clapped his hands over his ears. "I don't want to know."

Janson laughed. "Okay, okay."

Hobbie removed his hands from his ears. "Good." He peered across the room to where Tai and T.K. were sitting at the children's' table. "Do you think the kids are okay?"

Janson shrugged. "I don't see why not. The kids have never really been nasty to any visitors that I've seen."

Tai pushed his unfinished meal over towards Agumon. "Here."

"Something wrong Tai?" asked Agumon. "It's not like you to turn down food."

Tai sighed. "I just don't feel hungry. This whole thing with Matt has got my stomach tied up in knots."

Agumon pushed the plate. "But you gotta eat Tai, otherwise how will you be able to face Matt?"

Tai shook his head. "I can't." His face contorted and he slammed a fist down on the table, making several people look up. "Damn it. Why did he do it?"

"You're pushing yourself too hard Tai." Agumon took the plate and started to eat. "You won't help Matt if you're this frustrated. You'll just end up on the Dark side yourself."

Tai lowered his head. "You're right. I guess I'm taking this way too personally." He looked up, and all those watching him quickly pretended to look elsewhere. "I wish they'd all stop staring. I'm just a kid like them."

Agumon shrugged. "Well what would you do if suddenly someone who claimed to do the thing the Jedi can arrived in your neighbourhood?"

Tai mustered up a smile. "You're right. Doesn't make me feel any better though." He picked up a knife and started to twirl it around his fingers. "We don't seem to be accomplishing anything here. T.K. hasn't said anything about smelling chocolate, has he?"

Agumon shook his head. "Nope. Maybe we can get him to work at it tomorrow."

Tai sighed and made a decision. "I'm going to go back to the shuttle and sleep." He shoved his chair back and got up. "I can't take this anymore." He moved quickly away from the table and the easy laugher between the children. _Matt and me used to laugh like that together. What happened?_

About half way back to the shuttle Tai found a group of three youths blocking his path. All of them were older than him by several years, just on the cusp of adulthood.

Tai sighed. "Can I get past? I'm going back to the shuttle in the outer field."

In the gloom he could see them exchange looks. Finally one of them spoke up.

"I thought Jedi didn't need to sleep."

"We don't have to," said Tai, "But it's better for us if we do, and right now I'm too tired to do much meditation. I'd rather just sleep."

"Huh." The three of them got closer.

"And why is it that you feel that you should leave without eating?" asked another. "Is that our simple life is beneath the great and powerful Jedi?" he mocked.

Tai rubbed his forehead. "I'm just tired. That's what happens when you're trying to save three worlds at once." As soon as he said it Tai realised that the youths were going to only be encouraged by that comment.

"Oh save three worlds is it?" asked the first one. Together the three youths started to circle Tai, reminding him uncomfortably of sharks. "And what worlds would that be?"

Tai shook his head and started to move forwards. Two of the youths grabbed his arms, while the third took his lightsabre.

"Interesting," said the youth holding the sabre. Tai could tell it was the first one who'd spoken, obviously the leader of the group. "So why is it that your friend T.K. will let us play with his toys but the great Tai won't, hmm?" He turned it round in his hands.

Tai looked at him angrily. "You have no right to take that."

"I'll do what I like." The youth ceased examining the lightsabre and held it away from him. "What makes you so special anyway?" He tapped the activation switch and the lightsabre flared to life, illuminating Tai and his tormentors with an orange glow. "See? I now have a lightsabre, so _I _must be a Jedi." He grinned at his friends.

Tai remained still. "Last chance. Let me go and give me my sabre back. Or else."

The three youths laughed. "What are you going to do?" asked the one holding his left arm. "Pebble us to death?"

Tai shook his head, then dropped to the ground. His captors, positioned to stop his advance towards their friend, fell down with him. Tai rolled forwards, tearing his arms from their loosened grip. He sprung to his feet and faced their leader. "Give it back."

The youth shook his head and grinned.

Tai ducked as one of the youths he'd pulled down swung a metal bar at him from behind. He swung his leg out and knocked the youth off his feet. He then turned to the other one who had a vibroblade in his hand. The youth lunged and Tai jumped and flipped over him. While his opponent was gawping at where Tai had been, Tai spun round in a kick to the youth's head. The youth fell to the ground, and didn't move.

Then his friend with the metal bar approached again. Tai set himself in a fighting stance and waited. The youth swiped at him and Tai jumped backwards. The youth grinned as if he'd just won a major victory and swiped again. Again Tai jumped back.

When the youth swiped for a third time Tai, instead of moving backwards like before, dived down and tackled the youth. They went down together and Tai straddled his opponent. He forced the bar from the youth's grip, then stood and brought his foot round to connect to the youth's temple as his opponent rose. The youth joined his friend in unconsciousness.

Tai rounded on the last youth. "Last chance before you join your friends." He moved forwards. "Give. It. Back."

The youth waved the lightsabre in a semi-threatening manner. "I think I'm the one who's armed here."

Tai shrugged. "I have the Force. You just saw what it did against your two friends." He smiled evilly. "Just think yourself lucky. One of my friends could fry you where you stand. Me, I'll just beat you until you're unconscious." _Okay, so Izzy wouldn't do something like that, but he doesn't have to know that._

The youth eyed him nervously. "I don't believe you."

Tai shrugged. "Your choice." He held his hand out.

The lightsabre in the youth's hands jerked, then flew into Tai's outstretched hand, shutting itself down in mid-flight.

Tai clipped it to his belt. "Care to try it now you're unarmed?"

The youth took one look at him, then fled.

Tai sighed. _Maybe now they'll realise how unfair it is to pick on those smaller than them. I bet they're the local bullies._ He worked his shoulders round. _Man I'm tired. They took way too long to deal with._

He walked back off towards the shuttle.

"Tetchy!"

Tai moaned and pulled the blanket further over his head.

Janson stomped into the cramped cabin. "Tetchy!" he bellowed, yanking off the blanket.

Tai sat up. "What?"

Janson loomed over him. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Huh?" Tai rubbed at his eyes sleepily. "What are you talking about?"

"My nephew and his friend have a rather interesting collection of bruises this morning. Another friend tells me you're responsible." Janson put his hands on his hips. "So what did you do?"

Tai yawned. "Defence."

Janson glared. "Care to explain?"

"They cornered me late last night, grabbed me, and took my lightsabre." Tai waved his hand vaguely. "I took it back without killing them or myself."

Janson shook his head. "Not buying it. You don't have a scratch on you."

"That's what happened." Tai got up off the bed and stretched. "They attacked me, one with a pipe, one with a knife. I put them out of the fight as fast and as gently as I could."

Janson shook his head. "Well Myri told me to tell you that you're no longer welcome at the farm." He smiled slightly. "At least not if you're going to completely beat the locals in unarmed combat."

"Suits me fine." Tai continued to stretch. "They look at me funny. Like I'm a freak or something."

Janson tilted his head. "They may have a point Tetchy."

Tai looked sideways at him. "I don't think they do. They consider Master Skywalker a hero…"

"But he's never come to diner." Janson grinned. "I did invite him once or twice. He believed that my 'culinary expertise' continued into the rest of my family."

"Well at least those guys will think twice before attacking someone smaller than them."

Janson nodded. "I think they might." He moved to the door. "Let's go find T.K. and get that blasted lightsabre. My Aunts are trying to set me up again."

Tai laughed, then grabbed his lightsabre and cloak and followed Janson out the door.

T.K. shook his head. "I don't smell anything Mr. Janson."

"Well surely you feel something odd," suggested Hobbie.

T.K. thought about this for a few moments. "The weather is funny."

Janson blinked. "Huh?"

"It's always the same temperature, day or night. The temperature only changes when I move around."

Janson shook his head. "The weather here doesn't work like that. It's no different than for any other planet."

T.K. shook his head in return. "No, the warmest place I've found was in that field we were playing in." His eyes widened. "Do ya think that could be it?"

Hobbie shrugged. "Got any better ideas?"

T.K. grinned and ran off, Patamon flying behind him. "Come on, it's this way!"

Janson rolled his eyes at Hobbie then followed on. He watched T.K. crisscross the field until he came to a point slightly off centre. "It's here Mr. Janson. It's warmest here."

Together Hobbie, Janson, Tai and Agumon approached. Janson raised an eyebrow at Tai.

Tai shook his head. "Doesn't feel any different to me."

Hobbie leaned into Janson. "Doesn't it strike you as rather odd Wes that this happens to be in your family's field?"

"Don't knock it," replied Janson. 

He and Hobbie turned back suddenly as T.K. screamed.

Tai ran forwards, Agumon close behind him. "T.K? T.K. where are you?"

"Here," came a muffled reply. "I think I've hurt my leg."

Tai skidded to a halt at the lip of a gaping hole. "You down there T.K?" He lent over the hole.

At the bottom sat T.K. in a heap. "The ground just opened up and I fell." He started to get up, shaking dust and earth from his hair. He kept one foot off the ground. "I think I twisted my ankle."

"Hold on," said Tai. "I'll climb down." He judged the distances, then stepped off the edge and dropped to the bottom, landing in a crouch. "You okay?"

T.K. nodded, clutching Patamon. "I was just scared when the ground disappeared."

"Hey down there!"

Tai looked up to see Agumon, Janson and Hobbie looking down. "We're okay, don't worry." He looked around the hole and found a tunnel leading out of it. "You okay to walk down there T.K?"

"Uh-huh," nodded T.K. He hobbled forwards. "It sure is dark though."

Tai flicked on his lightsabre. "These things work great as torches." He moved forwards. "I'll go first so I don't hit you with this. Tell me if I'm going too fast." He held his lightsabre up and started to move down the tunnel.

He hadn't got very far when metal rods crisscrossing the tunnel blocked his path. "What the…?" He swept out his lightsabre to clear his path. The glowing blade spluttered, then went out. Tai frowned, then switched it on and tried again, achieving the same result. "Odd." He switched it back on, but kept it away from the bars.

T.K. drew level. "Hey, lookit!" He pointed and Tai could just about make out the hilt of a lightsabre beyond the crossing rods. "I must have to get it to float to me."

"I dunno," ventured Tai. "Maybe whatever is stopping my lightsabre will stop your telekinesis."

T.K. held out a hand. The sabre hilt twitched, then started to rise. "It doesn't seem to be stopping me." The hilt started to thread its way between the closely spaced rods.

Tai watched as T.K. carefully moved it though the small gaps. Eventually it started to drop lower and lower. "You okay T.K?"

T.K. shook his head. "This is making me really tired."

Tai took the smaller boy's hand. "Here." He sent some of his own strength to T.K.

T.K. smiled. "Thanks Tai." The hilt steadied, then rose smoothly, passing through the last three holes in the barrier and into T.K's outstretched hand.

T.K. turned it over in his hands. "Cool. Now we both have one."

Tai nodded. "Be careful. Once you've charged it you could hurt someone with it." He helped T.K. back towards the hole. "Hey! Wes!"

"Tetchy!" Janson leaned over the hole. "You get it?"

T.K. held up his lightsabre.

Janson let out a whoop. "Way to go T.K!" He and Hobbie bent down. "Give us your hand, we'll pull you up."

T.K. raised his arms and allowed Janson and Hobbie to lift him over the lip of the hole. Patamon flew up to join them. Janson started to lean back over the hole to help Tai out, when Tai came soaring out of the hole and landing gently on the balls of his feet.

"You shouldn't show off Tetchy," sniped Janson.

Tai sighed. "Taichi. Or Tai, I don't care. But _not _Tetchy."

"What ever you say Tetchy."

Hobbie rolled his eyes and T.K. giggled.

"Well?" asked Kun.

Tionne knelt in front of him and proffered up the Holocron. "The Gatekeeper refused."

"Refused?" spat Kun. "How can he refuse you when you have obtained information for him before."

Tionne trembled, and kept her gaze averted. "He said he could see your mark upon me."

Kun snarled inarticulately and snatched the glowing cube from Tionne's hand.

Myotismon laid a restraining hand on Kun. "We can find some way around this. All it requires is patience."

"Those meddling fools on the Council have stopped me for the last time." Kun held the Holocron out. "Last chance Gatekeeper. Stay silent and perish!"

The Holocron remained unchanged.

"So be it." Kun threw the glowing cube away from him, then threw an arm out. The Holocron was consumed by the crackling blue energy that spewed forth from Kun's hand. "Now no one can be helped by the past."

"Indeed," said Myotismon. "I find it a shame that we did not take time to discover about this 'Eighth Child'. What if they come to the other's aid?"

Kun laughed. "No one will aid them. While the future is in motion, that fact remains unchanged." He quietened. "But things are unravelling fast. Soon our puppet will face his friends, and will shall see if he can be trusted to serve us."

"What of his power?" asked Myotismon. "Have you still no idea?"

Kun glared at the digimon for reminding him of his failures. "None, but it does not matter. It will change nothing. He shall kill their leader, making them easier to bend." He looked wistful. "It is a shame that Courage could not be turned. He would have made an excellent pupil."

"You know that they will come here, don't you?" asked Myotismon. "Once they have faced the boy at Hoth, whatever the outcome they will come after us."

Kun nodded. "We shall retreat and get our followers to defend us until the children's' doubts start to show, then I shall have them." He smiled. "Fear is the path by which those simple children can be turned."

Janson winced at the colours of hyperspace and sipped at his caf. "Is it me, or is it brighter out there than usual?"

Hobbie shook his head. "You should know better at your age Wes."

Tai came into the cockpit. "Morning!"

"Not so loud Tetchy," asked Janson.

Tai looked at him. "Are you hung over?"

"Who, me?" asked Janson, grinning. The grin left his face. "Oh yeah." He sipped at the bitter caf again.

Tai laughed and Janson winced at the noise. "You should know when to stop Wes."

Janson rolled his bloodshot eyes. "It's _tradition _to get completely drunk on the last night of the festival."

"Suure," chanted Tai.

"Well we're making good time," ventured Hobbie. "We'll make Hoth in about twelve hours." He turned to Tai. "Think your friend will be there yet?"

"I hope not," said Tai. "If he has we have one mad, bad, and very stupid Jedi with a lightsabre roaming the galaxy."

Authors Notes: - Whoa. That was short. Sorry. It also took a while. Again sorry. I took a two-week break from writing this on the grounds that this was the only thing I could think about day and night. Not good.

So, next up Sora on Bespin. Geh. I can't write Sora. Stay tuned. 


	19. Bespin-Castle On A Cloud

Authors Note: - This takes place concurrently with the previous two chapters.   


The _Blue Ray _cut gracefully through the pink and orange clouds of gas that surrounded the planet of Bespin. A small vessel marked as one of Cloud City's defence force paced it. 

In the cockpit of the _Blue Ray _Doyle shifted uneasily in his chair. "Do they really have to follow us down?" 

Feona toggled a switch to level off the ships decent. "Ever since new management took over they've been paranoid over security. They don't want the Empire back." 

"Huh." Doyle again looked across to where the escort was keeping pace with them. "So is the new Barron-Administrator as nice as the old one?" 

Feona snorted. "Hardly. This guy is a Twilek, Narwa'ness. He'd sell his leku if he though it would turn a profit." She toggled the intercom. "We're making final approach, if you want to watch you should get up here." 

Momentarily Joe, Sora, Bukamon and Biyomon arrived. They watched as the _Ray _cleared the last patch of cloud to reveal the _Cloud City _hanging in the orange and pink mists, its lights reflecting off the clouds making them seem to glow. 

"Wow," exclaimed Joe. "These Jedi sure picked scenic locations to hide our lightsabres." 

"You said it buddy," said Bukamon, hovering just behind Doyle's shoulder. 

Doyle half jumped out of his seat. He turned to the digimon. "I asked you not to do that." 

"Make me," taunted the digimon. 

"Bukamon!" scolded Joe. 

"What?" 

Doyle rolled his eyes and extended the ship's landing struts. "Enough bickering." 

Gabumon sat in the corner of the ships cramped cargo hold, watching Matt sleep. The young boy's hair, once shiny and well kept was now unketempt and matted with sweat. Gabumon could see Matt's eyes rolling under their lids, the boy caught in some sort of deep nightmare. 

"Oh Matt, why do you let him do it?" Gabumon got up and tenderly brushed Matt's tangled hair away from his face. 

Matt cringed away from Gabumon's touch and put his hands over his head. "No, please! I'll do better! I swear I'll do better!" He started to scream. 

Gabumon winced. _Even when he sleeps he can't rest. _He tried to force Matt to uncurl from his foetal position. 

"No… No!" Matt jerked upright, his eyes wide and unseeing. 

"Matt! Matt, it's okay, I'm here!" Gabumon gripped Matt's shoulders until Matt's eyes came into focus. 

"Ga… Gabumon?" Matt put a hand to his head. "I… They…" 

Gabumon let go of Matt's shoulders. "It was a dream Matt. Nothing will hurt you as long as I'm here." 

"A dream."Matt leapt to his feet. "How could you let me fall asleep? I have to practice." 

"You were meditating." Gabumon shrugged. "Then you started to snore and I thought it would be better to let you alone to sleep awhile." He looked into Matt's eyes, his own eyes full of concern. "Matt, you can't keep this pace up. It'll kill you." 

Matt ignored Gabumon and started to move through a series of self-defence moves. 

"Matt," insisted Gabumon. "You need rest. Those nightmares are taking away whatever sleep you get." 

"Nightmares?" asked Matt, faking nonchalance. "What nightmares?" He wilted under Gabumon's steady gaze. "Okay, so I'm having nightmares. Big deal." 

"Matt, you're screaming in your sleep. That's not normal." 

"Look, if you're that worried, I'll practice for two hours, then get some sleep. Will that stop your incessant mothering already?" he asked with venom, then stormed off. 

"I'm just looking out for you Matt," said Gabumon softly to Matt's departing back. "No one else will."   
  
  


Sora turned in a slow circle, her eyes closed in concentration. Finally they snapped open. "I found it." 

Feona nodded. "Well then, let's get going. That credit-grabbing Twilek is charging me by the hour." 

Sora nodded, then led the way through the winding passages of the city, her boots making a soft slapping sound that reverberated off the walls. 

Doyle cocked his head. "Some echo." 

"People here value their privacy," explained Feona. "A hard environment that reflects sound makes it very difficult for sneaking around and eavesdropping." She kept her eyes moving through the crowds, checking for anyone paying too much attention to them. _After all, if the Imps could be bought to go after the kids, I'm sure some of this lot could._

Joe nervously fingered the hilt of his lightsabre, concealed under his outer robe. "Sounds like this is a lovely place," he commented. 

"I hate to say it," said Bukamon, "But I think Joe's right. These people don't seem too friendly." 

Feona snorted slightly. "Paranoia is an art form to these people, that's all. In general, once you win their trust you can find some of your most enduring friends in the smugglers and petty criminals." 

"A lot of heroes of the Republic came from fringe groups," added Doyle. 

"Really?" asked Joe. "Who?" 

"Han Solo and General Antilles were both smugglers before joining the Rebel Alliance," said Doyle. 

Sora came to a halt at the end of the hallway. "It's behind this door." 

"Oh…" Doyle clamped down on his tongue to stop himself from swearing. "Drat," he finished lamely. 

"What?" asked Joe. "It's just a door." 

Feona tapped a finger on the nameplate next to the door. "Baron's Office," she explained. "And there's no way that creep is going to let us search the place without 'compensation'." 

Sora shrugged. "Well no one's in there now, if that helps." 

It helps," nodded Feona. She turned to Doyle. "Take Joe with you?" 

Doyle nodded. "Double click as usual." He took Joe gently by the arm. 

"Hey!" protested Joe. "What's going on? What are you going to do?" 

"Breaking and entering," replied Doyle blithely. "Don't worry about it." 

"Aww," protested Bukamon, floating alongside. "I thought it was gonna be something serious." 

Feona watched Doyle lead the panicking Joe off, then turned to the door lock. "Huh." 

"Something wrong?" asked Biyomon. 

"Narwa'ness is a tight-fisted miser." Feona dug in a pocket and pulled out a thin strip of metal. "The old thirteen-twenties were taken off the market some time ago, due to a small design fault." She carefully inserted the strip into the casing. "Using the right tools, you can short out the lock… like so." A small chirp came from the panel and the door slid open. "Too cheap to buy a replacement lock, I'll bet." 

"Lucky for us." Sora moved into the room, towards the back wall. "It feels like it's in the wall." 

"How did it get there?" asked Biyomon. "Was it built into the city?" 

Feona spread her fingers out on the wall. "I don't think so." She moved her hands over the part of the wall Sora indicated until she felt a fault in the metal. "Aha." She reached into her belt and withdrew a long, needle-like device, which she inserted into a tiny hole. 

The wall panel swung open, revealing a keypad. 

"It's a wall safe," realised Sora. 

"How did you know what to look for?" asked Biyomon. 

Feona inspected the panel. "Shady past, don't want to talk about it." She tapped a code in experimentally. The panel beeped twice and Feona shook her head. "I take back what I said about Narwa'ness being cheap. This is a top of the range, modified lock. He's even taken out the manufacturers bypass." 

"Can't you open it?" asked Sora. 

Feona shook her head. "Twelve-digit code, three miss-codes and you're locked out for twenty-six hours." 

"So what do we do now?"   
  
  


Gatomon sat on a branch in a tree, enjoying the dappled sunshine coming through the leaves. Her discussion with the Gabumon had disturbed her more than she cared to admit. It had been many years since she had let slip that she'd been waiting for someone, and yet, she'd almost been shouting it loud enough for even Myotismon to hear. 

She shuddered. _If he did hear me, then it would start all over again. _She absentmindedly rubbed the back of her paw, where a scar was hidden under her glove. _My loyalty must be to him, and him alone._

Slowly she became aware of a shadow falling over her. She looked up. "Wizardmon. It would be you." 

The wizard digimon hovered over to sit beside her on the tree branch. "Thinking about the past again?" 

Gatomon nodded. "It's all that Gabumon's fault, stirring up feelings I shouldn't be having." 

"Maybe you should be having them." Gatomon saw the mask covering Wizardmon's face twitch, as if the sewn mouth underneath was smiling. "Did it ever occur to you that you should never have been working for Myotismon at all? That your true life lies elsewhere?" 

"A dream only," she replied sadly. "Dreams do not come true just by wishing them." 

"That's Myotismon talking," retorted Wizardmon. " He'd say 'Dreams are for the weak.' What do you say Gatomon?" 

"Dreams and hopes are the only things he hasn't taken from me." She sighed. "She comes for me in my dreams now." 

"She does?" asked Wizardmon. "Then maybe she's closer than you think." Gatomon snarled. "But she's human! And if she's human, then I'd be nothing better that some pet!" she spat. 

"Really?" asked Wizardmon with an air of patience. "You don't think maybe Gabumon is stronger for having someone else?" 

"I need no one." Even as she said it Gatomon knew it was a lie, one uttered by force of habit. 

"I remember what you told me when we first met, Gatomon, and I know that whatever Myotismon did to you, it hasn't crushed you completely." He decided to change tack. "There's a rumour that Myotismon found out something interesting from that glowing cube." 

"Eight children." Gatomon looked away from Wizardmon. "I was there. It said there was eight Digidestined children, not seven." She looked at Wizardmon. "What you're suggesting is dangerous to believe. I think it would be best if we spoke no more about it." 

"And what if the Digidestined return here?" asked Wizardmon. 

"I just don't know what I'd do then."   
  
  


"This is crazy." 

Doyle turned to Joe. "Will you quit saying that? You're going to jinx the whole thing." He turned to Sora. "Still paperwork?" 

Sora, her eyes closed nodded. "Accounts. You should see the mark-up on some of this stuff." 

Joe shuffled from foot to foot. "I'm telling you, someone is going to come into this office and spot us." 

"There's no personal effects, no paperwork around, and no sign that anyone has been here apart from cleaning droids," said 

Feona. "Its an abandoned sectaries office." She snorted. "Narwa'ness probably didn't trust anyone enough to have one." 

"Isn't spying on someone's thoughts… well… wrong?" asked Joe. 

"Technically not illegal," said Doyle, "But morally questionable, yes." 

"Don't worry Joe," said Sora. "I'm just scanning his surface thoughts. That's why we've got to wait until he opens the safe himself." 

"Oh, and that makes it _so _much better," said Joe. "I know its for a good cause, but isn't it still wrong?" 

"Give it a rest already!" moaned Bukamon. "We get that you don't like this. We didn't hear any suggestions from you about ways around it." 

"Shh," said Sora, closing her eyes. "He's going to the safe." 

"'Bout time," muttered Doyle. 

Sora scribbled on the scrap of flimsey she'd been given. "Got it." 

"Time for phase two, then." Feona considered. "Ideas for how to get him out of there?" 

"Fire?" asked Joe. 

"Nope," replied Doyle. "Fire-suppressant system." 

"Something in the main plaza?" asked Biyomon. 

"Security would handle that," said Feona. 

"What about an aerial attack?" asked Sora. "Wouldn't he go to a control deck or something?" 

"Or his own personal bolthole," replied Feona. "That'd work, but how'd you get back to the ship if it's flying an attack?" 

Biyomon raised a wing. 

Feona shook her head. "Forget I asked that." 

"We have a plan?" asked Doyle. 

"We have a plan," confirmed Feona. "Stick with Sora here, and get ready." She tapped the door release. "Come on Joe, Bukamon. We've got a city to scare."   
  
  


"So…" Doyle searched his brain for a topic of discussion. "How'd you kids get to be running around saving the world anyway?" 

Sora shrugged. "We went to summer camp." 

"And?" 

"That's it." She shrugged again. "We haven't really discussed much of our past with each other. It tends to make us remember the things we lost." Klaxons started to wail. Sora closed her eyes and concentrated. "He's on the move." She waited until his presence moved out of the corridor and into the plaza. "He's gone." 

"Let's go then," said Doyle, pushing the door release. He looked out of the doorway, along both ends of the corridor. "Clear." 

"Of course its clear," said Sora. "I'd have said if it wasn't." 

Doyle nodded distractedly. "Right. Sorry." He used the lock bypass Feona had left with him on the door, and Sora was amused to see that he did it with much more difficulty than his partner. 

Sora entered as soon as the door slid open and stuck the pin into the small hole, revealing the keypad for the safe. She stood to one side. "You'll have to type. I don't know what symbols are what number." 

Doyle nodded and typed as Sora called out the numbers one at a time. He entered the last number and pulled the door open. "We're in." 

Sora looked around the inside of the safe. "It's not in there." 

"What?" asked Doyle. 

"She said…" began Biyomon. 

Doyle waved a silencing hand. "I know what she said." He sighed. "So what now?" 

Sora thrust her arm all the way into the safe. "Its further behind…" She jerked back as red light spilled from the opening. "What's happening?" 

Doyle snapped his fingers. "Joe's was behind some sort of seal that glowed when he touched it, remember?" 

Sora nodded and reached back into the safe. She then smiled and drew her arm out, clutching the hilt of her lightsabre in her hand. "Found it. Let's get out of here before they realise that Feona is only faking an attack." 

"Or worse," said Biyomon, "Before they blow her out of the sky." 

Doyle shook his head. "Never happen. I mean, have you seen her fly?" He shut the safe, then left the room. 

Sora and Biyomon followed, then Doyle removed the bypass from the door lock. "Lets get going." He led the way to one of the landing platforms. He reached into a pocket and withdrew his comlink. "Feona?" 

"Busy. ETA two minutes, with some friends hot on my tail." 

"Understood." Doyle thumbed the comlink off. "Time to go then." 

Sora nodded. "Okay Biyomon, time to digivolve." 

With a flash of light the small pink bird was replaced by a giant phoenix. "Get on you two." Sora sat on one giant clawed foot and motioned for Doyle to do the same on the other foot. "Hold on tight," she cautioned. "It's going to be a windy ride." 

Birdramon flexed her wings and took to the sky, wheeling around, trying to spot the _Blue Ray _incoming. Finally she sighted it, however it seemed odd. "She's coming in upside-down!" 

"Don't worry about it," yelled back Doyle. "Drop us on the belly!" He could see the entry ramp lowering, or rather from his perspective rising, to let them in. He felt Birdramon draw level. "Jump Sora!" He let go of Birdramon's claw and dropped to the underside of the ship. Over the screaming wind he heard a clank as Sora joined him. "Get in!" He pointed at the hatch. 

Sora nodded and moved over the surface of the ship, keeping low to minimise her resistance to the wind howling past. Doyle saw her lunge into the gaping entryway, followed by a surprised shriek. He turned his attention back to the sky in time to see Birdramon's form glow and contract as she came hurtling towards the ship. He was rewarded a moment later by a solid thump as Biyomon connected with his chest, nearly sending him over the edge. 

"Sora?" asked the digimon. 

Doyle motion to the hatch. "Inside." Still gripping the bird he moved to the hatch, then threw her in. He heard a puzzled squawk, then followed. His stomach lurched unpleasantly as the world seemed to turn by a hundred and eighty degrees, causing him to crash to the deck, instead of the ceiling of the ship. "OW!" He sat up and rubbed his side. "Let's not do that again." By the hatch he saw Joe slap the fast seal on the entryway, causing the hatch to close up. 

"Doyle, get up here!" Feona yelled down the corridor from the cockpit. 

Doyle hauled himself to his feet and ran towards the cockpit. "Get strapped in kids, it's going to be rough." He entered the cockpit and nearly threw himself into his chair at the co-pilots station. "Rear deflector at twelve percent and falling," he called out, checking his monitors. 

"Fore?" asked Feona. 

"Ninety-three." 

"Arm cannons. Going in on approach vector." Feona brought the ship about so it was flying towards the city patrol ships. "Warning shots only." 

Doyle flicked on the belly cannons. "Playing chicken?" 

Feona sent the ship diving into the midst of the smaller patrol ships, scattering them. She then pulled back hard, sending the ship into a vertical corkscrew to avoid the incoming laser fire. The ship broke through the cloud layer, laser dart following its course. "Set the navicomp going would you?" asked Feona, weaving the ship from side to side. 

Doyle checked the coordinates, and got the green light. "Set." 

Feona leaned forwards and threw the hyperspace levers. The stars outside the cockpit turned to streaks, then a glowing white tunnel. 

"Course change in thirty seconds." Doyle watched the counters fall on the navicomp. On cue he brought the ship out of hyperspace. "New course two-thirty one mark sixteen." 

Feona brought the ship about to the new heading, then sent in back into hyperspace. Finally she sighed and stretched in her chair, reaching her arms to the ceiling. "Thank the Force that's over with." She turned to Doyle. "Stick a note in the log would you? 'Don't go back to the _Cloud City _without changing the ship IFF transponder'." 

"Right." Doyle likewise stretched, then spun in his chair to check the damage diagram on another panel. "Looks like we need to do some work on the aft shield generator." He held up a cred-coin. "Flip for it. Winner gets the kids, loser gets the repair work." He flipped the coin. "Heads or tails?" 

"Heads." 

Doyle revealed the coin. Tail side up. "I'll get you the repair kit."   
  
  


Gabumon watched Matt as he slept. This time the youth slept soundly, unplagued by nightmares. Gabumon was relieved. He was sure that Matt could not have survived much longer without some form of rest. At times the digimon was sure he could see a black shadow clinging to Matt as he slept. Whether that was caused by Matt or some outside force Gabumon was unsure, but he was beginning to suspect the latter. 

Matt groaned slightly, then rolled onto his back, his eyes fluttering open. He then turned his head towards Gabumon. "Hey." 

"Hey Matt. Feeling better?" 

"Much, thanks." Matt pulled himself up to a sitting position and tucked his knees to his chest. "You were right. I did need to sleep." 

Gabumon rested a hand on Matt's knee. "And the nightmares stayed away?" 

"Nightmares, yes." Matt reply was cagey, so Gabumon decided to press. 

"What about normal dreams?" he asked. 

Matt got up distractedly, like he'd forgotten how to move his body correctly. "It wasn't a dream, I'm sure of it." He started to pace. "Tai… I was fighting Tai…" Matt giggled slightly. "He looked so surprised when I ran him through…" He lunged forwards, an imaginary lightsabre in his hands. "And he crumpled, just like a puppet with all it's strings suddenly missing." 

Gabumon backed away slightly. "You're scaring me Matt." 

"But you know what the best bit was, huh?" asked Matt, not hearing Gabumon. "They lay Tai, blood everywhere, and T.K. comes to me and hugs me and he says…" Matt's eyes became shiny. "He says 'Thank you Matt, you were awesome!' And I said 'Why, T.K?' and he said 'Because you killed Tai and he wanted me to hate you and forget you, and because I never did he'd beat me, but it's all better now because I have you again.' And then I put my arms around him and I tell him 'Don't worry T.K. Tai can't hurt us any more.'" He smiled at Gabumon. "And you know what's really great? It's going to happen." 

Gabumon shook his head. "Matt, you can't mean that! Tai was… _is _your friend! You can't kill him!" 

"It was a prophecy," said Matt. "Kam said that Jedi see the future in their dreams." His voice hardened. "And I _will _kill Tai. It's destiny." 

Authors Notes: - Sorry, sorry, sorry for taking so long! I blame too much chocolate at Easter and my home environment isn't exactly conductive to writing, unlike my room at Uni. I have now decided I _really _can't write Sora. Next up is Hoth. YAY! Matt vs. Tai round one. Who's going to win? LAST CHANCE with the prophecy. If you can't get most of it after the next chapter, well, I'd be very surprised. Lets hear those wild and wacky theories people! 

Oh, and review PLEASE! I like people reviewing; I'll even take constructive criticism, like I'm doing miss-characterisation. 

Two major things to add… 

1.Anyone wanting not to miss anything, leave your email address and a request and I'll email anyone who wants to know when I put a new chapter up. I already do this for one person, its not hard for me to do it for a few more. 

2.I'm going to start a new fic in a week or so, but I have two ideas. I'm taking it that you guys like how I write, as well as what I write so I'm asking for opinions. Stick 'em in a review or email 'em to me, I don't mind (fmb105@york.ac.uk). This doesn't mean I'll forget this fic, I'm just starting up another one as well. 

Here are the ideas. 1.'Izzy Izumi and the Hall of Shadows' – A Digimon/ Harry Potter crossover with a difference. Although I will be using the HP universe, Harry, Ron and Hermione will not appear. Harry will be mentioned once or twice, but that's all. Izzy gets a letter inviting him to join the Kyoto Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He has to learn how to keep his lives separate, as the Japanese wizarding system is vastly different to that in Europe. There pupils attend muggle schools from Monday to Thursday and are at Kyoto Friday to Sunday. Izzy learns that his biological parents were leaders of the resistance against the evil Yasui, who was one of Voldemort's generals. It will be set just after the second movie on the Digimon timeline. 

2.'Marks That Will Not Fade' – A Princess Mononoke/ Stargate-SG1 crossover. *Sees people looking at her funny* Seriously I'd think it would work. Other than fudging it so that the entire movie took place on another planet rather than 14th century (Or whenever) Japan it would work well. Ashitaka has to help Iron Town rebuild from its destruction before Lord Osanno (Was that his name?) attacks again. Eboshi has sworn to follow a new way, but what would happen if she came into contact with the semi-automatic weapons of twentieth century Earth? San hates humans with a passion, yet loves one with a passion equally bright. Will she accept the humans now they no longer destroy the forest, or will she maintain her vendetta? Is the Spirit of the Forest really gone, or is he merely sleeping and awaiting to be called forth again? Ashitaka still bears the mental and physical scars of his ordeal. What path will he lead Iron Town down? 

As you can see, both of these stories have had the preliminary work done on them. I'm just after input as to which I start first. Both of them will need further research at some point (I haven't read the Goblet of Fire in a long time, and I know squat about 14th century Japan and the Emishi/Imishi/Amishi (Never see it spelt the same way twice on FFN)). 

To finish, some comments on review I get… 

Thank you who ever it was who offered me money to write. It's here so pay up ;-) 

Who ever asked about chapter titles…. I hate to admit it, but I make them up as I upload usually. Generally they're sayings. For instance last chapter 'Eat, Drink and be Merry' is habitually concluded with the phrase 'for tomorrow we die.' It just seemed to fit well. 

Thank you, goodnight, and REVIEW ^_^ 


	20. Hoth-The Balance Shifts

After much consideration Wedge had come to the conclusion that Hoth had not improved with his absence. The old rebel base still was well below freezing, necessitating heavy-duty heaters and de-humidifier, as well as the clunky, white heated jackets that he, Leia, Izzy and Mimi now wore. For a brief moment he envied Chewbacca. The Wookiee had no need for insulation with his thick fur. Wedge could see him scuttling about on the top of the _Falcon, _trying to prevent the decay that occurred the last time the ship had been in this bay. Next to Chewy he could see the white mound topped with red that was Izzy.

Wedge smiled to himself. Whoever had delivered the supplies to Hoth in preparation for the group had given military surplus jackets. As the military had no children, all the jackets were sized to fit adult humans, causing Izzy, with his short stature to resemble a mound of snow wearing a wig. Wedge could only imagine what would happen with T.K, who was even shorter than Izzy.

A steaming mug appeared in front of his face, proffered by Leia.

"Here, it'll help keep you warm."

Wedge nodded his thanks and inhaled deeply the steam rising from the mug. "Thanks." He took a careful sip, not wanting to scold his mouth. "How's the com-gear look?"

Leia, gripping her own mug, made a face. "Not so good. We'll only get a little warning of incoming…" Threepio's urgent calling cut her off. "Mistress Leia! There's a ship incoming!"

Leia and Wedge hurried over to the monitoring equipment.

Wedge checked the screen, then relaxed. "It's okay Threepio. It's who we're expecting." He checked the screen again. "I see what you mean," he said to Leia. "We can barely stretch to monitoring half the planet."

"Let's hope that Matt will be trying for this half then," said Leia grimly.

"Hey guys! Miss me?" Gomamon bounded down the ramp of the _Blue Ray _and promptly skidded on the icy floor of the landing bay. "Hey, what's with the ice?"

"The whole planet is an ice cube," explained Doyle. He noticed Wedge and Leia crossing to meet them. "Councillor. General."

"Hey, what about us?" pouted Mimi.

"I'm sorry." Doyle knelt on one knee in front of Mimi and took her hand. "Alas fair maid, that I did not greet thee in a manner fitting to your noble lineage."

Mimi giggled.

Feona rolled her eyes. "Always the clown." She turned back towards the landing ramp. "You guys going to join us?"

"But it's so cold!" moaned Joe from the top of the ramp.

Sora joined him, pulling her heated jacket closer. "You can say that again."

"Sora!" Mimi ran to her friend and hugged her. "Are you okay? Did you find it?"

Sora hugged Mimi back. "Yeah, I found it."

"So now what?" asked Joe.

"Any one got a deck of cards?" asked Doyle.

"Sir?"

Matt opened his eyes as the pilot's voice crackled through the intercom system. He slowly stretched out his legs, working the stiffness out from them caused by the inactivity of his meditation.

"Sir?" asked the pilot again, sounding more insistent than the last time.

Matt rose and stepped over the sleeping form of Gabumon to reach the commpanel. "Yes?"

"We've arrived in the Hoth system sir."

Matt toggled off the commpanel and moved to the cockpit hatch. He slapped the door release and the door slid into the wall with a whisper. "It's here."

"Sir?" The pilot turned from his instrumentation to face Matt.

Matt smiled slightly. _He's more than twice my age, yet I am greater than him. I have seen things he never will. _"It sings to me Lieutenant. It sings of revenge and control." Matt's eyes unfocused. "It sings like my mother."

_He's mad, _thought Navel Lieutenant Pris Tolen. _What the Emperor said about the Jedi was true, they're all mad with what they've seen. _He shuddered.

"Cold Lieutenant?" asked Matt.

"Y-yes sir." Tolen swallowed. _The Jedi… Some can read minds… Oh Sithspit…_

Matt smiled coldly at the Lieutenant and nodded. "Yes Lieutenant. We can." He closed his eyes. "I do not judge you on what you think though. That is uncontrollable." _As long as you obey me._

Tolen fought the urge to just run to the escape pods and jettison away from this creepy kid who was talking in his head. _I'm in the Empire's service. I do what I'm ordered, and if that includes ferrying some creepy kid and his dog…_

"Gabumon," corrected Matt, still smiling. His smile suddenly faded as if it had never been. "He's not here."

"Sir?"

"Never mind, never mind." Matt waved a hand at the planet slowly filling the view port. "Show me a map of the planet's surface."

Tolen obliged, setting a hologram rotating just above the control panel.

"Here." Matt jabbed a finger at a point on the surface. "Land here."

"It'll be a couple of minutes," replied Tolen, his fingers already programming in the course corrections. "You should use the time to get into your survival gear."

Matt snorted. "I have no need of it." He twitched as a frantic beeping started from one of the consoles.

Tolen swung round to check it. "There's another shuttle dropping out of hyperspace behind us. It's coming onto an intercept course and charging weapons and shields."

"Kamiya," growled Matt.

"We'll make planet fall before them… barely," interjected Tolen, checking his calculations.

"Drop me, then go on the attack," commanded Matt. "I'll signal when I'm done. Don't even land, just open the hatch both times."

"Sir?"

"Those are my orders Lieutenant. Follow them." Matt stormed off to the exit hatch.

Tai bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, as if by sheer willpower he could make the shuttle gain on the one in front. "Can't this thing go any faster?"

"We're almost burning out the engines now," responded Hobbie, fighting with the engineering panel. "If we red line the engines any more they'll explode."

"How long until we catch up?" asked Tai.

"Too long," returned Janson, checking his instruments at the pilot's chair. "They'll get there first, maybe even have time to get her into attack position themselves.

"Damn!" Tai slapped the bulkhead. "And there's nothing we can do!"

"Heads up!" called Hobbie. "The _Vengeance _is banking."

"She's dropping her ramp," exclaimed Janson. "She can't be planning to land at this speed!"

"She's not, look!" Tai darted forwards to stand between Janson and Hobbie. "That blue flash, that was Matt jumping out."

"Jumping?" choked Janson. "At that speed it would be suicide."

"Speaking of suicide," interjected Hobbie, "The _Vengeance _is powering lasers." A shrill beeping filled the cockpit. "She's got a lock!"

Janson yanked the steering round. "Going evasive!"

The shuttle lurched, sending Tai off his feet and slamming into one of the walls.

"Hang on Tetchy," added Janson as an afterthought.

Tai glared at Janson's back. "What now?"

"Now?" Janson pulled the ship into a tight loop. "Now we try not to get shot down in an aerial dogfight."

"What about Matt?" asked Tai.

Janson shook his head. "Forget it. We can't set down long enough to drop you guys."

"Then don't set down." Tai jogged to the exit hatch.

"Don't set down?" asked Janson. "Are you crazy?" He swore as the shuttle rocked again. "He's getting closer."

Hobbie nodded. "Rear deflector half strength."

Tai turned back to the cockpit. "Open the hatch!"

Janson half turned in his chair. "That's crazy! You'll freeze before you talk him round!"

"He's my friend, and he's out there without any coat on!" yelled back Tai. "If someone doesn't talk to him he's going to kill himself! Now open the damn hatch!"

"Well his friend seems to be busy trying to blast us from the sky." Janson turned back to his board as the shuttle lurched. "We can't help you."

"I can!" piped up T.K. "Matt's my brother, he's gotta listen to me!"

Tai knelt in front of T.K. and gripped the younger boy's shoulders. "Listen to me T.K. I'm not sure that's really Matt down there. When we left the temple he was acting crazy and I don't know if he'd still even see you as his brother, or just as an enemy. I want you to stay here with Patamon and Agumon, where it's safe." He raised a hand to stall Agumon's protest. "I'm going down there alone. No one else gets hurt." He turned back to Janson. "Now open the hatch before I use my lightsabre to do it for you."

Janson locked eyes with Tai briefly, and was surprised to find something in the boy's level gaze that he found in his own when he looked in the mirror. The gaze that vowed to burn down anything or anyone opposed to what he was about to do. Janson shuddered to see that look in someone so young. _The world has aged him, tempered him like metal._ He nodded and triggered the hatch. "Be careful. Too long out there and all the healing trances in the world won't help."

Tai approached the ramp, the air screaming past as the shuttle banked round hard. His robe slapped hard against his legs in the wind. He squinted into the flying snow, and spotted a blue speck on the perfect white.

"Good luck… Taichi," said Janson.

Tai turned back to Janson, flashing a grin of victory. He then stepped off the ramp and into freefall.

It took Tai a while to get his bearings once on the ground. While Matt was easy to spot from a height here on the ground with the snow blocking his view it was much harder. Finally he spotted a speck of blue far off and started to run, feeling the artic temperatures starting to bite into his skin. _Has Matt gone so far that he doesn't even feel the cold any more? _wondered Tai.

He came over the crest of a hill to see Matt digging with his bare hands into a cliff of snow. Matt seemed to stiffen and Tai knew that he must have entered Matt's 'field of view' within the Force.

"I know you're there Kamiya. You can just turn around and go away. I'm not letting you stop me." Matt kept resolutely digging.

As Tai moved closer he could see Matt was clearing away snow from a huge sheet of ice. _The seal! _he realised.

_Very good Tai, _replied Matt sarcastically. _I always knew you were the brains of the outfit, not Izzy. _

Tai stiffened; surprised that Matt had so casually listened in to his thoughts.

Matt laughed. "I've learnt a few new tricks now you aren't holding me back any more with your twisted morality." He stood. "Now give me back my brother. He's mine, not yours."

"He's not property Matt," spat back Tai. "He's safe, away from whatever that twisted ghost has been doing to you!"

Matt laughed again. "He's made me strong. Stronger than you can imagine." 

Tai only sensed a faint tingle in the Force before the ice wall Matt had excavated exploded outwards. Tai brought his arms up to protect his face, the ice slivers biting into his arms, as sharp as glass. The cold stung across the hundreds of tiny cuts, doing little to improve his mood. "I can't let you take that lightsabre if you're going to use it for evil."

"Let me?" asked Matt. "You don't 'let me' anything Kamiya." He started towards the hole. "And now I take what is mine, starting with this sabre, and ending with my brother."

Tai sprinted across the snowfield and positioned himself between Matt and the entrance. "Matt, snap out of it! No one is keeping your brother way from you except you!" He felt the telltale tingle of Matt summoning the Force to bat him out the way. "Oh no you don't!" He lunged at Matt's stomach, knocking the other boy to the ground. "No matter what tricks he taught you, I'm still a better fighter than you."

Matt shoved Tai off. "You want to go one on one again, fine by me." He took up a balanced stance, left side leading.

Tai was confused. Matt wasn't left handed, so he was setting himself at a disadvantage. "Don't think that'll throw me." He came in with a solid punch.

Matt batted his hand out the way, and brought his elbow up, forcing Tai's jaw shut with a sharp click.

"Oh, I won't," retorted Matt. While Tai was still reeling Matt lashed you with his foot, hitting Tai squarely in the stomach.

Tai bent over and started to retch.

"Not so good now, are we?" asked Matt mockingly. He turned and entered the ice cave, finding his lightsabre resting on an ice plinth. Matt picked it up, ignoring the pain as the cold metal burnt his palm and fingers. "Now we're on an equal footing, you and I," he said to the still retching Tai. He flicked on his comlink. "I'm done here."

The _lambda _shuttle broke off its attack from Tai's ship and swooped down.

Matt took the opportunity to walk over to Tai and deliver another sharp kick. "Any time you want a rematch, I'll be waiting on Yavin." He paused for a moment. "And bring T.K. Don't punish him for this."

_Don't punish him? _wondered Tai. _Why would he say that? _The world fell away as the young boy slipped into unconsciousness.

Matt looked up as the shuttle hovered overhead, its ramp extended. He crouched, then jumped easily onto the ramp ten feet above him. He turned back to Tai's prone form. "See you there."

Tai became dimly aware of voices in the darkness.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

Tai wondered who it was that seemed to have this child so worried.

"Don't worry T.K, Tai's going to be fine."

The names sounded familiar to him somehow.

Suddenly it all came rushing back to him. Tai's eyes snapped open and he jerked up, only to be overcome by a wave of dizziness forcing him back down again. "Whoa."

When he cracked his eyes open again, he saw Janson leaning over him. "Take it easy Tetchy, you nearly didn't make it back."

"You were colder than Frigimon when we found you," added Agumon.

Tai realised that he'd felt a rough surface moving across his hand while he'd been fighting to regain consciousness. A movement of his head revealed Agumon rubbing a clawed hand across his own. "Sorry if I worried you bud." Tai sat up much slower this time. "I don't think I'm going to be doing that again in a hurry."

"Better not," snorted Janson. "Hoth is no place to get caught outside."

"Where's Hobbie?" asked Tai.

"Piloting the shuttle," replied Janson. "We should be joining up with the others in the base soon."

"Good." Tai gingerly got to his feet. "I take it Matt legged it back to Yavin."

"That's what it looked like on our scanners." Janson grinned. "Looks like we're going there next."

T.K. made a face. "I don't like this Tai. Matt wants us there."

Janson nodded. "Bad thing to do what the enemy wants, I know. But we don't really have a choice here."

T.K. pulled at Tai's sleeve. "Tai, was Matt acting weird down there?"

"Pretty much," nodded Tai. "Why do you ask?"

T.K. looked worried. "'Cause when that other shuttle left, I heard Matt up here." T.K. put a hand to his temple. "He was saying some really strange things and he felt funny."

"Something about freeing you?" asked Tai.

Janson started to speak, but Tai held up a hand to stall him.

"He told me that I didn't have to worry, that I'd be free soon and I wouldn't have to suffer any more de-pray-vet-ees." T.K. buried his head in Tai's side, clutching at Tai's pant leg. "Tai, Matt felt _wrong. _He was so cold, and he burned white and blue."

Tai patted T.K's head gently. "Don't worry T.K. Me and Patamon will get Matt back for you, I promise."

Janson watched as T.K. raced down the ramp into the waiting arms of Sora. The young boy seemed to have put his fears behind him. Janson turned to Tai. "Care to answer a few questions I have?"

Tai nodded agreeably. "Sure."

"How did you know what Matt talked to T.K. about?"

"He said something similar to me." Tai frowned. "I think he sees me keeping T.K. from him forcibly, punishing T.K. if he remains loyal to Matt." Tai shook his head. "I don't get how Matt got this twisted."

"The other thing," continued Janson, "Was what was it with T.K's descriptions? They just seemed surreal."

"Describe colour to a blind man," countered Tai. "We have to understand what we sense in a way we can interpret."

"You're right." Izzy moved over to the pair. "I've been talking with Sora and Joe. They both describe different sensations connected with the lightsabres."

"Chocolate?" asked Tai.

Izzy raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "No. Sora described it like… a mother's protection. Mimi felt a breeze. I saw it like something I couldn't quite remember. Same signal, different interpretation."

"Ice fist." Tai saw the confused looks on Janson and Izzy's faces. "T.K. saw Matt as burning blue and white, I saw him as an ice fist."

Janson shook his head. "I just don't get it Tetchy."

"Tetchy?" asked Izzy.

"What happened to Taichi?" asked Tai.

"Huh?" asked Janson, faking nonchalance. "When have I ever not called you Tetchy, Tetchy?"

"TAICHI!"

Izzy clamped a hand over his mouth to stop him from giggling. Tai had finally found someone even more obnoxious than himself.

Tai continued to fume. "Taichi! It isn't even that difficult! Tie-ee-chee!" Tai's Digivice let out an ear-splitting shriek.

"GAH!" Janson slapped his hands over his ears. "What the Sith was that?"

Izzy held out a hand. Tai dutifully handed over the offending object. After pushing a few buttons Izzy handed it back.

"Most bizarre. There appears to be nothing wrong with the device."

Janson poked a finger in his ear. "Tell that to my eardrums."

"Maybe it was what you said Tai," ventured Izzy.

Tai shook his head. "Don't think so Izzy. How many times have I said my name before?"

"But you didn't say your name," countered Izzy. "You said the syllables of your name."

"And?" asked Janson.

"Taichi is a compound of two letters," explained Izzy. "The last part of Tai's name is the number one."

"Ichi? That's the same as one?" asked Janson.

Izzy winced. "That got a bit garbled in translation, but I think the answer's yes."

"So why the squawk Izzy?" asked Tai.

Izzy looked at Janson. "Ta."

Again the digivice squealed and made Janson wince. "What'd you do that for?"

"To prove my theory." Izzy yanked Janson over to a mound of snow in the corner of the bay. Using the powdered snow he sketched out two symbols. "Ta-ichi. The translator coped with the last bit fine; it's just one word. The first bit has too many connotations, too many meanings so when said without a context…"

"It gives them all simultaneously, making that horrible sound," nodded Janson. "Many-One."

Izzy started. "Prodigious!"

"Huh?" Tai turned to Izzy. "What is it Izzy?"

"Many-One," said Izzy. "One-Who-Is-Many perhaps?"

"I'm already in the prophecy, remember?" countered Tai. " 'And take Courage in death' remember? Why would I be in there twice?"

"I don't know," said Izzy. "It doesn't seem likely that…" Izzy broke off suddenly, his face turning white. Sweat beaded across his face and his fists clenched.

Tai folded to the floor, his already abused stomach dry heaving as he tried to prop himself up.

Janson looked on confused, then heard screaming from further in the complex.

Tentomon flew up, followed closely by Agumon. Each digimon moved straight to their partnered human.

"What happened?" asked Agumon, unable to do anything but rub his hand up and down Tai's back as the boy continued to bring up his stomach contents.

"I don't know," panicked Janson. "It just happened simultaneously to both of them."

Tentomon hovered nervously in front of Izzy. "He doesn't even see me here!"

Leia, Mimi and Sora, together with their digimon had finally managed to find the stored supplies. They sat in a lose circle on the floor.

"Sounds like you really hit it off," said Sora.

Mimi nodded. "It was a lot of fun. Leia knows a lot about how people think."

"So no more chasing Izzy?" teased Sora.

"Pfft." Mimi waved her hands in a dismissive gesture. "We're _so _over." The group laughed.

Hobbie sauntered over. "Is all this food for you, or can anyone eat?"

Leia smiled. "Pull up a mound of snow and join in."

Hobbie grinned and picked up one of the packets of dehydrated rations. "I never thought I'd be glad to see combat-rats, but I have to say it's better than tauntun meat."

"Janson still giving Wedge a hard time about that?" asked Leia.

Hobbie shot her a look. "This is _Janson _we're talking about here."

"Right," nodded Leia. "Forget I asked." She took a bite from her ration pack. "You know, I'll never understand how we survived on this stuff."

"Oh, I don't know," said Sora. "I quite like it."

Leia and Hobbie just stared at her.

"Oh come on," said Sora. "It's not that bad, really."

"Not as good as a cheeseburger," countered Mimi.

"Well no," admitted Sora. "But better than leaves and berries."

To Hobbie's surprise Sora's smile faded and her eyes widened in terror. Her mouth then opened and she began to scream.

Mimi's voice joined in, her voice rising to a wail before her eyes rolled back in their sockets, and she went limp.

Hobbie turned to Leia, only to find her clutching her stomach, looking like she was about to vomit.

Another scream came from elsewhere in the hanger, one Hobbie recognised as T.K's voice before it cut off.

Sora kept screaming.

Wedge calmly held Feona as the woman thrashed by the access panel. He heard several screams start, then stop, leaving only one, mournful wail undulating across the frozen bay.

"What's going on?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Bad things."

Wedge turned as Doyle jogged up. "I need more information than that. What is affecting these kids?"

Wedge was surprised to see Doyle looking strained. "Something in the Force. That's why the kids, Leia and Feona are down."

"Is it a weapon?" asked Wedge.

"You military types. All you ever think of are weapons." Doyle shut his eyes. "It's like there's suddenly a big _hole. _So many things are missing… gone…"

"I'm well aware of what missing means Doyle." Wedge chanced letting go of Feona as she had stopped thrashing. Silently the woman sank to the floor.

"How do you know?" asked Wedge.

"Huh?"

"How do you know something is missing?" persisted Wedge.

Doyle shifted uncomfortably. "Well… I feel some stuff through the Force too. Something to do with how my brain is wired up." He glanced around. "If I'm feeling this, and I have no talent, imagine how it feels to them."

"I think Sora is doing a pretty good job," said Wedge, still listening to the scream. "At least, I assume it's Sora."

"Well Joe fainted clean away when it hit," countered Doyle. "T.K. screamed a bit, then did the same. I guess we're just going to have to wait this out."

"Let's try to move them together," said Wedge. "There's only five of us, plus Threepio, and there's eight of them. We should be prepared in case it's some sort of an attack."

Doyle shook his head over the judgement, but proceeded to help.

An old man walking by the sea looks up as the sky turns white… 

_A kindergartner stops chasing his friend as his skin starts to burn…_

"No! Stop!"

A mother hears the scream of her child outside moments before she forget the child in her own agony… 

_Two young lovers intertwine, the heat building within, then without…_

_An old woman kneeling by her husband's grave, wishing they were together again, getting her wish…_

"Please…" Matt choked out a sob. "Please… stop…"

A newborn child, it's life disappearing before it starts… 

_A young man trying to reconcile with his girlfriend before it's too late. It already is…_

Matt fell to the floor as the faces, the nameless, unknown faces assaulted him.

A woman… 

_A man…_

_A girl…_

_Two lovers…_

_Husband and wife…_

_Fights…_

_Feuds…_

_Love…_

_Hate…_

"STOP!" screamed Matt. "MAKE IT STOP!"

Unfulfilled… 

_Unfulfilled…_

_Unfulfilled…_

"Please…"

Death… 

_Death…_

_Death…_

_"Brother?" asks a young man turning to the oncoming flame. "Why aren't you here to stop this?"_

"No…" Matt found himself on his hands and knees, a pool of vomit beneath him and a sour taste in his mouth.

"Matt?"

Matt felt a steadying hand fall across his back, and another pushing a cup of water towards him. "Ga… Gabumon?"

Gabumon nodded sadly. "I'm here Matt. Can you sit up?"

Matt nodded, then instantly regretted it as the world spun and his stomach heaved in sympathy. He held his eyes shut until the nausea went away, then gingerly knelt back. "That was intense."

"I'll say." Gabumon passed Matt the cup of water. "You were screaming incoherently for almost fifteen minutes."

"That long?" Matt sipped the water. "It feels like a lifetime…" _Hundreds of lifetimes… gone…_ Matt started to cry.

"Matt?" asked Gabumon. "What's wrong?"

"People… people dying… The old, the young, the good, the bad… Gabumon, _it didn't matter who they were_!" Matt sobbed slightly. "No rhyme or reason to his or her death, except they were in the wrong place. They were just cut down, like wheat."

Gabumon couldn't think of anything to say to that. He just put his arms around Matt.

Matt stiffened in shock, then moved closer, feeling the instinctive need to have someone near. "What was it, Gabumon? What happened to all those people?"

Gabumon hung his head. "Reports on the Imp comm-net say that the Cadrian sun went nova unexpectedly. A small ship was seen nearby just before it happened."

_"Brother?" asks a young man turning to the oncoming flame. "Why aren't you here to stop this?"_

Matt shook his head to remove the flash. "How could he?"

"Matt?"

"Kyp destroyed his own brother. He brought the sun crashing down like divine retribution…" Matt put his head in his hands. _Is this what Kyp and I are being taught? That even our own brothers should fall to our wishes? That death is the only way for peace, even if innocents get in the way?_

_My God… What sort of monster have I become?…_

Matt could dimly hear laughter in his head.

Authors Note: - Okay, Matt is now completely creeping me out. That is not a nice head to get inside.

Very, _very _sorry to do this, but there will be no updates for at least five weeks. I have my end of year finals coming up, and I don't have time to write and revise, so the writing will have to be ignored for now.

New on FFN is 'Izzy Izumi and the Hall of Shadows', the winner of the informal poll last chapter. It's only got one chapter and will stay that way until exams are over. Sorry 'bout that.

In answer to some misc comments on the reviews-

Whoever wanted to know what Matt's power is… Tough. You'll have to wait. He DOES have one, and it isn't the whole Dark Side vibe going either.

Thank you to everyone who assured me that my Sora didn't suck that badly.

Thank you to everyone to rejoiced over Gatomon and Wizardmon. They'll be back next chapter.

As always review ^_^


	21. A Marshalling of Forces

Doyle was the first one to notice the movement among the group of Force-sensitives lying on the floor of the abandoned Hoth hanger. As chance would have it, it was Feona who started to move first, her head slowly rising and her eyes blinking rapidly.

Doyle moved to her. "Welcome back." He handed her a cup of water.

"Thanks." She gratefully accepted it and took a few swallows. "I'd hoped that I'd never go through that again."

Doyle sighed. "I think everyone hoped that something like that would never happen again."

Feona put the cup down. "Do we know where yet?"

Doyle shook his head. "We'll know as soon as we get out of here and on the commnets."

Feona shivered to dispel the chill that had settled on her internally and externally. "It was a major planet, not just a simple colony. Alderaan all over again."

Wedge joined her. "It was another Alderaan? Another system destroyed by the Empire?"

"Empire?" Feona shook her head. "I didn't think they had that sort of firepower any more."

"Then who?" asked Wedge. "I can't think of any other power that could do this." He then stiffened. "Yes I can."

Doyle raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it then."

Wedge shook his head. "I'll tell it once everyone is awake." He rose as he saw movement from Hobbie, who was passing another cup of water to Sora.

Sora rubbed her throat gingerly. "Ow." Her voice came out as a squeak. She gratefully took the proffered cup and started to sip.

Kun growled and opened his eyes. "It is no use. I cannot reach him directly and even now he begins to suspect my schemes." Myotismon sat in the same position he had been when Kun began his meditation, much to the Sith-spirit's annoyance.

"We must take action then," said Myotismon. "We must remove Gabumon from him as soon as he returns." He smiled. "Who'd have thought that such a weak creature could stop such a powerful Jedi?"

Kun growled again. "You forget your place Myotismon. It is not my fault that this mysterious connection prevents me from touching Matt's mind when both are awake." He got up and started to pace. "May I remind you that it was at your request that I spared the creature?"

Myotismon seemed to grow more indifferent. "I had hoped that the evil ways you were teaching the child would permeate the link between them, allowing me to take the Gabumon as one of my soldiers."

"Huh." Kun returned to his throne. "Well thanks to that Gabumon's interference, benign or not, Matt's mind is in turmoil. He well may slip through my grasp."

"And rejoin his friends?" asked Myotismon.

"Possible. He could also turn against me with his own abilities. He is our strongest weapon and he knows this." Kun shook his head sadly. "It would be a shame to destroy such potential." He looked up as a cloaked figure entered the room. "Welcome back my student."

Kyp bowed to his master, then as an afterthought repeated the motion for Myotismon. "I have returned from my quest. My brother suffers no longer."

"Indeed." Kun inclined his head slightly. "And what did you learn from this?"

"Death is the answer to any problem, be it of the mind, body or soul."

Kun smiled. "A valuable lesson. Now I require you to rest. Soon our enemies will return and we will need every fighter to stop them."

Janson finished running checks on his shuttle, then threw a thumbs up gesture out the cockpit window. "Works fine now Wedge."

"Great," came Wedge's reply over the comm. system. "We need to get back to Coruscant as soon as possible."

"Think the Wraiths will come to the party?" asked Janson as he shut down the computer.

"I hope so," replied Wedge, packing up his tool kit on the other side of the hanger. "I also put in a call for Major Page."

"Page made major?" asked Janson.

He heard Wedge laugh over the comlink. "You're one to talk. I never thought you'd make it past Flight Officer."

Janson clutched at his heart melodramatically. "A mortal blow! Truly you have bested me, Oh Glorious Leader." Wedge was still laughing as Janson cut the connection. He powered down the rest of the cockpit, and then made for the landing ramp. At the bottom he found Wedge waiting for him.

"Is the _Soaring Star _ready?" asked Wedge.

Janson nodded. "Good to go as soon as you give the word," said Janson.

Wedge inclined his head. "Then we go as soon as possible." He started walking over to where the rest of the group waited.

All of the children looked slightly scared. T.K. was wrapped in Sora's arms, hugging Patamon like a life preserver as the elder girl gently rocked him and whispered encouragement in his ear. Both Tai and Izzy were trying to make out that nothing had happened, but Wedge had been in the military long enough to see that they too were frightened. Joe and Mimi sat together, arms interlocked, affirming life between the two of them. Leia as usual had put her feelings on the back burner as she planned out the next move.

"We set?" she asked.

Wedge nodded. "Just give the word."

"Right." Leia's stance changed to that of a military leader. "Janson, Hobbie, you take the shuttle and get going now. Get to Coruscant and start assembling the troops. If you have trouble bring Ackbar in on this. We don't have time to fool around."

Janson snapped a military salute. "Yes Ma'am." He turned on his heel, heading back towards the shuttle. Hobbie followed close behind.

"The rest of us will take the freighters," continued Leia. "They're slower than the shuttle, so by the time we reach Coruscant we should have a fighting force ready."

"Then will we go save Matt?" asked T.K. hopefully.

Leia nodded. "And my brother," she said.

Matt's knees felt like they were going to buckle. The air on Yavin just seemed so _heavy_, like someone pushing on his shoulders, trying to force him to the ground. He half stumbled down the landing ramp, towards the waiting figure.

"You've returned," said Gatomon. "The masters wish to see you."

Matt nodded. "And what about Gabumon?" he asked. "Is he to stay with me?"

Gatomon shook her head. "He is to remain here with me."

Gabumon lightly touched Matt's arm. "Don't worry about me Matt, it's yourself you should worry about."

Matt nodded slightly, then set off towards the temple.

Gabumon watched him go sadly.

Gatomon stepped forwards. "Come with me."

Gabumon inclined his head to show he understood, and then followed Gatomon as she led the way to a far courtyard. There he was unsurprised to find a collar and chains waiting for him. He stood still as Gatomon fastened the stiff collar around his neck and made sure that the chains were secured to the posts correctly. She then performed a final check on the collar, leaning in close.

"You have friends here. Don't worry."

Gabumon stiffened as Gatomon whispered in his ear. He started to open his mouth to ask her what she meant, but her paw whipped round, lightning fast, striking him across the muzzle and snapping his head round.

"Prisoners don't need to talk," she snarled.

"Hey, take it easy on him toots. The Master won't like you messing around with his new toy." Demidevimon flew over Gabumon's head and settled neatly on the cobbled ground, his claws making a slight clack as they contacted the stone.

Gatomon glared at Demidevimon. "Want me to use you instead?"

Demidevimon gave a lecherous grin. "If that's what you want."

Gatomon growled and stalked off, her tail lashing.

"I think she likes you," deadpanned Gabumon.

"Really?" asked Demidevimon, not catching the sarcasm.

"Oh yeah," said Gabumon. "You're definitely in with a chance there."

"Sweet! Thanks a lot." With that the bat digimon opened his wings and took to the sky again.

Matt felt like he was choking on the very air he was breathing. He couldn't focus, couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

_It's him, _though Matt to himself. _Kun is doing something to me. _As he approached Kun's self-appointed throne room his breathing calmed, and his mind was soothed with the balm of easy promises once again. _Tai is wrong; he took T.K. and is causing him pain. I remember now. Kun would never hurt me; he wants me to free my brother. _He took a deep breath and entered his master's presence.

Kun smiled benevolently down at him, like an uncle welcoming the return of a beloved nephew. "So you have returned Matt. I trust you found what you were seeking."

Matt unhooked the lightsabre from his belt and held it up. "I retrieved the object, but not the person." He scowled. "Kamiya kept him from me again."

"Have faith," replied Kun gently. "I have foreseen our enemy's next move. They will come here, intent on destroying me."

Matt shook his head. "I won't let that happen, you've been nothing but a guide to us."

Kun smiled. "That is why we shall leave you here." He gestured at Myotismon, careful to keep the illusion in Matt's mind of friendship. "Myself and my ally will retreat to my old temple, where my energies are at their strongest. You and the rest of the students will stay here and stop these foolish New Republic troops from going any further. Our friends within the Empire have graciously lent us weapons and men to aid us. All we must do is make sure that Leia Organa-Solo does not leave here alive."

Matt nodded. "Once my score with Kamiya is settled I shall see to it personally."

Wedge resisted the temptation to grin like an idiot as he entered the briefing room. The vast windows on all four sides of the room made it look like the room itself was floating. The long table was set up the same as any other pilot briefing he'd attended in his long career, with large containers of caf that Wedge guessed could melt transparasteel. He found Janson sitting half way down the table, his feet resting on the table and his chair tilted back, making his way gleefully through a pastry.

"Juft like the old dafs, huh Wedge?" asked Janson round a mouth full of pastry. He swallowed, then motioned further down the table. "I think Kell is still trying to kill me."

Wedge raised an eyebrow. "I thought he gave it up?"

"I reckon it's a ruse. Get me to drop my guard, then…" Janson drew a hand over his throat. He then shrugged. "That or something with Ewoks."

"I'd go for the slit throat, if I were you," consoled Wedge. He patted Janson on the shoulder, then moved to the head of the table where Leia sat, along with Major Page, Captain Garik 'Face' Loran and Tai. "Think we've got enough people here?" he asked Leia jokingly.

"Luke's important to the Republic," answered Leia.

"Still," said Face, "There's two troops under Page's command, plus us eight Wraiths, making over thirty without adding in you and those kids. Isn't that overkill?"

"There's several Jedi there," said Izzy, sat at Tai's left. "Plus Myotismon's army."

"Myotismon?" asked Page. "Who's he?"

Wedge shook his head. "Let's get the briefing started." He banged on the table, causing everyone to look up. "Take your seats people. Let's get this briefing underway." A fluster of movement followed, with unit leaders, children and digimon all taking a place at the table.

Once everyone was seated Leia stood. "I'd like to thank you all for coming," she began. "We have need of your skills as the best of the Republic."

"Oh flattery will get you anything," quipped Face.

Leia smiled at him before continuing. "The Jedi Academy on Yavin has been taken over by the spirit of an ancient Sith spirit, called Exar Kun. We believe he has many of the students under his control."

"What about Master Skywalker?" asked a voice from the back.

"Kun has somehow forced my brother from his body and taken it as his own," explained Leia. "We're going to take it back, along with all the Jedi students. He's being assisted by a creature from another dimension, Myotismon, who has his own army of creatures." Leia nodded to Wedge. "General Antilles will now brief you on them."

Wedge stood, and started up the holo in the centre of the table, which displayed footage from the battle that had taken place in Coruscant airspace. "This army of creatures are not uniform in structure. Some have aerial abilities, some have armour, and nearly all have some form of energy-based weapon. We estimate that some of the blows could do as much damage as a proton torpedo." He paused and looked around the table. "These creatures are _not _to be fought with. You are to defend yourselves if attacked, otherwise you are to ignore them."

"What?" asked Page. "How can we ignore them if they attack?"

"Tai?" Wedge motioned for the boy to stand.

"Um…" Tai shifted nervously, then stood. "We have digimon of our own. They'll fight Myotismon's army while we go after the Jedi." He looked to Wedge. "Wedge… Um, General Antilles, with our help has put together a list of friendly digimon, but we can't be sure if these won't change. Some enemy digimon have given indication that they might rebel and join us."

"Thank you Tai." Wedge motioned for Tai to sit. "We are to hold the Jedi, without causing injury if possible, while our own Jedi enter the temple and take out Kun. How we're going to do it is this…"

"Wedge, hold up a minute!"

Wedge turned to see Face waving at him. "What is it?"

Face joined him. "When did you get in to Coruscant?"

"Not long ago, why?"

Face looked worried. "So you haven't heard then? About Dr. Xux?"

"What?" Wedge asked, confused. "Why would I hear anything about Qwi?"

Face shook his head. "Something's happened to her. That kid General Solo was looking after, the one from Kessel…"

"Kyp Durron?" asked Wedge.

Face nodded. "That's the one. He went to see Dr. Xux, overcame the guards looking after her. The security monitor just shows them dropping like flies as he approached, no cause present. He then held up a hand in front of her, and she started screaming. When more guards got to her Kyp was gone and so was her mind."

"What?!"

"Wedge, somehow he erased her mind totally. She doesn't remember anything. Not her work, her family… or you."

Wedge's fist clenched. "And where is Kyp now?"

Face shook his head. "We don't know. Intel thinks that it was Kyp, using Dr. Xux knowledge, which used the Sun Crusher at Cadria. If he's anywhere, it'll be Yavin.

Wedge forced himself to relax. "Then I'm going to find him and shoot him myself. And Kun better not get in my way."

"Gatomon. I have new orders for you."

Gatomon bowed low to Myotismon. "Whatever you wish shall be, my lord Myotismon."

"You are to split our army in two," said the ghost digimon. "Most are to stay here and stop those digimon guarding the Digidestined. A few are to accompany me to Kun's hiding place to await the outcome of the battle. You are to guard the Gabumon there."

Gatomon bowed low again, then left to start preparations.

Kun entered silently from the rear chamber. "Her heart is torn. You are wise to keep her from the fight."

Myotismon sneered. "I may not have time to recondition her now, but rest assured, after this battle it will be done."

"Why not just kill her?"

Myotismon shook his head. "She has been a good servant. It will take less effort to re-educate her than to train a new lieutenant."

Kun nodded thoughtfully. "Very well," he said. "I shall now withdraw with Kyp and Kam to the temple. The Imperial troops and Jedi are stationed already. You need only position your troops."

Myotismon inclined his head. "It will be done. Soon the children will fall to you, and you can then return me to my world to rule in peace."

Authors Notes: - No more exams. YAY! Now I can start writing again. I apologise for the shortness of this, but really I'm just moving characters around before the fun starts to end the story. Yup I said end. I'm reckoning about another four chapters.

Anyone really confused by the Ewok reference, go read the Wraith Squadron trilogy by Aaron Allston, quite possibly the funniest SW author out there. Face and Kell are in it.

Also, I've just discovered Gundam Wing (Late I know) and have already got two stories up about them. (Yes I'm looking at you EA)

Some complaints about Matt's lightsabre cropped up, as in he didn't face any sort of task. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, any trap would have at least hinted to his ability, and secondly, I couldn't really think of one that fitted anyway. If you like say that the fact the blasted thing was in the Artic was his task!

Oh, before reading the next chapter, go find some good music. I recommend 'Duel of the Fates' from the Phantom Menace, but anything action based would work well. Go on, go find it. I'll wait.


	22. Into the Lions Den

Joe was starting to feel distinctly claustrophobic. The troop carrier had been launched in a hurry as the Star Destroyer captain had reported an old _Victory _class destroyer belonging to the Empire parked in orbit around Yavin. As a result the ground troops had been 'On Station' as Wedge had called it for almost twenty minutes before they dropped into the system. He, the rest of the kids, the digimon and six members of the Wraiths were strapped into tightly packed chairs in a self-contained converted cargo pod. The final two members of the Wraiths were stationed in the cockpit, piloting the carrier towards the surface of Yavin, hopefully keeping pace with the other carrier that held Major Page's team, Leia, Feona, Doyle and Hobbie, and expertly piloted by Wedge and Janson.

_It's just because of the walls, _reasoned Joe. _Nothing to do with the fact that we may be going to our deaths. _He leaned forwards, and looked at where Tai, Izzy and Sora were having a last strategy discussion. _Do I tell them what I've seen?_

"Hey Joe," chirped Gomamon. "What's wrong buddy? You look kinda down."

Joe leant forwards and ruffled Gomamon's Mohawk. "Just trying to decide if Tai and Izzy are better off not knowing."

Gomamon nodded. He was glad that Joe had at least confided in him. The knowledge of what might happen was clearly eating at his friend. "You said yourself that what you see is only what the future might be, not what it is. If they know about it, maybe they can avoid it."

"But what if me telling them makes them over-confident, and they fall into the trap anyway?" asked Joe, clearly stating a well-worn counter argument.

Gomamon thought about this carefully. "Perhaps the better question is how will you live with yourself if something happens to them because you didn't tell them?"

Joe sighed. "You're right."

"I'm right?" Gomamon grinned. "At last, Joe sees the might of my wisdom."

"Don't push it," cautioned Joe. He lent over in the other's direction. "Hey guys? Can I talk to you?"

"What is it Joe?" asked Sora.

"I have to tell Tai and Izzy something."

"So tell," said Tai. "Better now then before the fire fight…"

"Light fight," corrected Izzy absentmindedly.

"…Light fight starts," finished Tai.

Joe fidgeted nervously. "You're not going to like this." He took a calming breath. "Since we got here, I keep seeing things about this battle. They've been getting clearer and clearer. Matt is going to do some very bad things. He's going to try to kill both you and Izzy."

"Is he going to succeed?" asked Izzy, fighting to keep his voice even.

Joe shook his head. "I don't know. So much hangs in the balance over this. Every time I see the events the outcome changes."

Tai turned to Sora. "Sora, I need you to do something."

Sora smiled. "Of course I'll look after T.K, Tai, you don't need to ask."

Tai shook his head. "I know you will Sora, but that's not what I'm asking. I found something on Tatooine. '_Love is the cure to hate, Hope the cure to darkness, and Courage and Knowledge will be their guides.'_ It's pretty clear that you and T.K. are going to have to come with us after Matt."

Sora nodded. "But I'm not risking T.K. We'll be way behind you."

"That's the way I want it. If Matt really does kill me and Izzy, I don't want you and T.K. in the kill zone." Tai took a deep breath. "I'm planning my death. This is so not what I was expecting when I went to Summer Camp, you know?"

"Yeah," replied Izzy. "I think I know what you mean."

Yavin hadn't changed physically from what Tai remembered, but the air seemed more oppressive somehow, as if Kun himself was breathing down his neck. Tai shivered. "He knows we're here. This whole jungle is screaming danger."

Wedge put down his binocs. "Well I can see lots of Storm Troopers, and a few Jedi Apprentices."

Leia took the binocs from Wedge and put them to her own eyes. "I'm missing only four." She put them down again. "It's not like there were many Jedi here to start with."

Wedge shut his eyes. "Do you know who's missing?"

"Matt, Kyp and Kam are for sure." Leia scanned the rest of the clearing. "I'm not sure who the fourth is."

"Matt will be inside the temple. Waiting," said Tai.

Janson nodded. "Kyp and Kam are probably with Kun as body guards. That's what I'd do."

"The question is," said Face, "Is Kun as abnormal as Janson?"

"Hey, I resent that," said Janson. "I think. I'm way better than a Sith Lord."

"Permission to put Janson on front line?" asked Face of Wedge.

"Granted. And confiscate his armour."

"Quiet!" snapped Leia. "Mess around later, for now we've got a mission to rescue my brother."

"Wait a minute!" said Izzy. "What about any Digimon?"

Both Wedge and Leia shook their heads. "Didn't see any," added Wedge.

Tai waved Agumon forwards. "Hey buddy, we don't see any digimon. Can you smell them?"

The dinosaur digimon sniffed a few times. "Yeah, I can. They're all hiding in the jungle, but my nose knows."

A rustle in the leaves betrayed the digimon's presence moments before it stepped into the small clearing. "You've a good nose."

Wedge, Janson and Face had their blasters trained on it instantly. Leia was only a fraction of a second behind. 

The digimon held up its hands placating. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Wizardmon. I'm the leader of the Anti-Myotismon group. Well, one of them anyway." He waved at the bushes and two more digimon came out. "These are Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon," said Wizardmon. "They both let your friends on Endor escape."

"I remember," said Leia.

"I remember them leering," added Izzy.

"Yeah, well…" said Gotsumon. "That Lillymon was a _babe_!"

"So you'll help?" asked Wedge.

"Oh you bet," said Pumpkinmon.

Wizard nodded. "In return we have a favour to ask." Wedge nodded for Wizardmon to continue. "Kun and Myotismon have moved to another temple, and they've taken more digimon with them. In particular your friend Matt's Gabumon. Seems that Gabumon somehow was blocking Kun if he was too close to Matt. With Gabumon is Gatomon. She's one of us, and she's going to make a break for it during the fight with Kun. Don't go after her."

"Why think we're going after Kun?" asked Tai. "Why not consider that all we want is Matt."

Wizardmon shook his head. "It's your brother he's taken isn't it?" he asked Leia. "He put faith that you'll stop at nothing until you save him."

Leia nodded. "Let's get this over with."

Face took out a comlink and flicked it on. "Saddle up boys and girls. Lock off on Stun. No kill shots without permission from myself, General Antilles or Councillor Organa-Solo."

"One, Five. How about the stormies?"

"That goes for the stormies too, Five."

"I'll make sure they put that on your tombstone, sir."

Izzy swung his lightsabre back and forth, picking off shots that came too close to him. Every so often he'd contemplate spiting a bolt back at the Troopers. _Better not, I don't come with a stun setting. _As far as he could see the whole situation was at a stalemate. He, along with the rest of the kids stood in the temple clearing, lightsabres blazing, while the crack troops of the New Republic kept within the confines of the jungle, their whereabouts effectively hidden as they tried to engage in sniper activity against the Jedi students of Exar Kun. He suppressed a flinch and the instinct to look as an inhuman yell came from overhead. The digimon were fighting their own battle now, and he could do nothing to help. "Damn it!" He looked around and could see the others pinned down by enemy fire. _I'm the only one free to move._ He batted away another bolt. _We need to break the stalemate._ He thought for a moment._ I'll get behind them; attack from behind! _Izzy broke into a run, straight at the thickest concentration of Storm Troopers, ducking as blaster bolts flew overhead.

"IZZY!"

Izzy ignored Tai's yell and kept moving. _This is my call to make Tai. Hope you understand. _He started to get close enough to the troopers that they could no longer miss him. He took hit after hit, each time channelling the bolt down his body and into the ground. If he had been able to watch himself he would have seen the glowing marks he left in his wake, purple electricity darting around his footprints.

The troopers ceased firing as Izzy passed the first rank. It would be foolish to miss and hit their comrades. Izzy picked up speed and vaulted over the second rank, then dodged an apprentice, all while keeping in a straight line for the hanger. Making it inside he skidded to a halt, then flung himself behind the protection of a group of crates, pausing to catch his breath. _Great. Now I'll head back out and take the troops out from behind._

_Izumi._

Izzy's head snapped up, looking for the source of Matt's voice. "Matt?"

_I am here Izumi. I am unguarded. You can take me back and save Tai from all that pain, all that work._

Izzy shook his head. _Help the others, then go after Matt._

_Coward. _Matt's voice held a trace of mockery. _You do that. You could never achieve anything. After all, you're not Tai. You're not me. You're not as skilled as him. You cannot achieve anything while you stand in his shadow._

_That is not tactically sound, _replied Izzy, _Attacking now when soon I will have a greater advantage._

_You mean Tai will have the greater advantage._ Matt's laughter, his real laughter filled the corridors of the temple. _You're just his lackey. Run back to your master Lackey. Maybe Sora will let you stay with T.K. where it's safe._

Izzy growled low in his throat. _I'm not a lackey. I do what is necessary to win. I will not turn to the Dark Side just because of your taunting._

_Did I hit a nerve? _asked Matt innocently. His voice hardened. _You're weak Izumi. That's why Tai has to do all the work. The only way for you to achieve glory is to ride on his coat tails. Reflected glory is no glory of your own._

Izzy rose and started into the temple. _Then how about I find some glory of my own?_

Matt's laughter grew louder.

Tai fought with a strange feeling. He felt like he was floating above his body and only observing as he pulled an intricate set of moves, guarding, along with Sora, the patch of jungle in which T.K. hid with two of the Wraiths laying down cover fire. It therefore took him a while to notice Izzy running at a wall of troopers. He blinked and forced himself out of the peculiar flow state he was in. "IZZY!" He felt a brush against his mind, Izzy's assurance that he knew what he was doing.

_Like hell he knows what he's doing. Death awaits him in there!_ Tai moved closer to Sora, being careful not to step into her circle. "Sora, Izzy's gone into the temple. I don't know what he's planning, but I can't let him go there by himself."

Sora nodded her agreement, somewhat violently in an effort to dislodge her sweat-soaked hair from her face. "I can hear Matt talking to him. He's goading Izzy into a fight."

"One he can't win," said Tai. 

Sora looked at Tai sadly for a moment before resuming her concentration against the bolts of death. "Go. I'll keep T.K. safe. You keep Izzy safe."

Tai nodded and started to edge forwards, his progress hampered by the onslaught of bolts. _This is going to take a while. I just hope I'm soon enough._

Izzy entered the throne room at the top of the temple cautiously. It seemed oddly peaceful, considering the destruction outside as humans, aliens and digimon fought a savage battle. He took a moment to rub his hands dry, hooking his lightsabre back on his belt. He walked slowly forwards, into the cool stone room.

Matt sat at the far end, on a raised dais, sunlight illuminating where he was sitting in meditation. He seemed serene, at peace, and hardly the maniac that Tai had described to Izzy after the encounter at Hoth.

Matt's mouth twitched into a smile. "So, you came." His eyes remained gently closed. "I thought you could not be goaded into a fight?" he asked with faint mockery.

"Yeah well…" Izzy shrugged. "This wasn't goading, this is me making sure my friends don't get hurt because of some crazy ghost."

"Am I your friend?" asked Matt.

"Of course," replied Izzy. "All of you are."

Matt's eyes snapped open and Izzy was shocked at the rage they seemed to hold, a stark contrast to the calm, Buddha-like image of an instant before.

"You're my friend," repeated Matt. "Why do I not believe you?" He slowly stood, reminding Izzy uncomfortably of a cobra rising to strike. "I seem to inspire fear in you Izumi." He advanced slowly, using measured steps. "Fear is hardly the basis of friendship is it? Maybe contempt is, after all you seem to have a fair amount of contempt for me."

Izzy shook his head, willing himself not to fall back as Matt approached. "I've never had contempt for you, not in the past."

"But you do now," said Matt, still slowly advancing. "I can sense it. You have contempt for me now, and you did then. 'Poor slow Matt, doesn't understand a word I say, but tries _so _hard.' Well guess what, Izumi? I'm not putting up with those views any more. I don't have to." He stopped just centimetres away from Izzy. "See, I'm better than you. Greater. I can do things _Jedi _and only dream of and non-Jedi cannot imagine." Matt held a hand up limply in front of Izzy's chest. His fingers twitched and Izzy found himself sailing backwards through the air, shoved by Matt's will.

He landed hard on the stone floor, skidding a few meters before stopping. He bit his lip to stop himself from making a sound in shock. He then slowly started to rise, getting barely half way before he saw Matt's hand twitch again. It was like being hit by a truck. He was hurled backwards, harder than the last time and connected solidly with the back wall. This time he did cry out, before succumbing to gravity and sliding down the wall to the floor.

"Aww, poor Izzy-wizzy," consoled Matt. "Getting into something he can't think his way out of."

"You picked up your brother's trick," said Izzy picking himself up. He was fairly sure Matt wouldn't throw him again as he was already against the wall. "You can do telekinesis. Well done."

"You're mocking me."

"Really?" asked Izzy, laying on the sarcasm. "You'd think that just because we can all throw things around that'd make you special?"

Matt's mouth quirked into a smile. "Very true." He watched Izzy rise. "And what about your gifts, huh? Think they're pretty rare?"

"So I was told."

Matt stretched out a hand and blue lighting erupted from his fingers and coursed along Izzy's short frame. Izzy channelled it away from him, into the floor. 

"You're not so big now are you?" asked Matt. "I'm in charge, I say what goes, and I say that you'd be better off out of my way." 

"That? All it did was tickle," bluffed Izzy, not wanting Matt to know how close he'd gotten to his threshold.

Matt smiled. "All it was meant to do was tickle." He stalked around Izzy, looking him up and down. "You're pitiful. You should have been drowned at birth. You're a runt. A weakling. Always needing someone like Tai to protect you, to save you." He stopped at the wall and leant against it. "And I can prove it too. You can't take punishment." His eyes softened. "Scream for me."

"What?"

Matt held a hand out and the lightning coursed up and down Izzy's frame again, harder than he could shunt away. It was cold, evil, raising angry read welts on his skin where it touched.

The lightning stopped.

"Scream for me, Izumi. Beg for your life."

"Screw you." As soon as the words escaped his lips the pain began again, making his body go ridged. His body was burning and freezing at the same time.

Matt released him. "Scream for me, Izumi. Beg for your _death_."

Izzy steadied himself against the wall, gasping for air. "Not… going to… happen," he panted.

Matt shrugged, then hit him again with the lightning, this time pushing him back with all the force of a wrecking ball. He skidded for several feet, the lightning slowly dissipating from his skin, leaving black burn marks.

Matt smiled and moved towards Izzy, looking like he was taking a Sunday walk. He then held out his hand, letting the lightning play over his victim as he advanced slowly but surely like a harbinger of death.

Izzy gritted his teeth as Matt approached him.

"I want to hear you scream Izumi. I want to hear you beg me to stop." Matt continued to discharge blue lightning into the smaller boys frame.

"Never…" choked out Izzy. "I won't… give you the… satisfaction."

Matt continued to calmly and coldly pummel Izzy until the smaller boy fell limp. Then, with a casual flick of his wrist he sent Izzy's limp body flying into a corner. "That was fun, but I don't want to be tripping over my messes when Tai comes."

"This is no good!" yelled Wedge at Leia. "Those Jedi are knocking back anything we send at them." He winced as a blaster bolt passed less than a foot to the left.

Leia nodded and fired another stun-bolt at where she could see the white of Storm Trooper armour between the foliage. "I'm thinking that they're good enough to block real bolts."

Wedge moved off slightly, hoping his displacement would stop the Troopers accurately defining his position. "I have to agree Leia." He flicked on his comlink. "This is General Antilles. I give permission for live fire, repeat live fire. Get those stormies down and out _now_." Even before he thumbed off the comlink he could see the blue bolts darting from the forest change to the red of blasters set to kill.

Tai shed his outer cloak while he was climbing the staircase. _There is no fear, no anger, no hatred._ He paused. _Who the hell am I kidding? I'm going to face my best friend, who coincidently wants to kill me. Of course I'm scared._ He heard Matt's laughter.

_Listening in on my thoughts again Matt? _he asked.

_It's so fun to hear you delude yourself. _His tone became consoling. _Oh, I thought you might like to know, Izumi is here. Well… was anyway._

_What did you do? _asked Tai, speeding his climb.

Matt gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. _It was such a little thing I asked him to give me. He refused. I tried to get him to do it, but he refused and in doing so hurt himself._

_What did you want?_

_A scream, that's all. Maybe after that an admission that he isn't as great as he thinks he is, but he never screamed. And I did so _try _to help him._

Tai felt his lip curl. _That's sick. You're seriously fucked up, you know that?_

_Language Kamiya, _scolded Matt. _I hope you haven't been using words like that around T.K._

Tai reached the top of the stairs. He looked around and found what looked like a heap of purple cloth thrown in a corner. "Izzy?" He started to run towards his friend.

A sharp tug on his collar hauled him back to the centre of the room.

"Ah-ah," said Matt, shaking his head. "You have T.K, I have Izumi. Fair trade, last chance."

"Matt, I don't know what that ghost did to you, but I don't want to fight you." Tai held up a hand to stop Matt from jumping in. "Let me guess what you're about to say. He's made you stronger, right? You fear no one, right?" He put his hand down. "Then how come you're lashing out? That's the action of someone who's scared. Matt, I wish you'd just stop and look at yourself and see what he's done to you. To all of you. Damn it, he pushed Kyp to kill his _brother_! How long before he makes you do the same to T.K?"

"SHUT UP!" Matt lunged forwards, his lightsabre igniting with a _snap-hiss_.

Tai ignited his own and brought it up in a block, dancing back out of Matt's reach. "Hit a nerve did I Matt?" He shut his lightsabre down. "I don't want to fight you. I'd rather have my friend back."

Matt's shoulders suddenly slumped, like all the energy had gone from them. "You're right," he muttered.

"What?"

"I said you're right," snapped Matt. "Everything you said, it's true. All I did was cause pain. I'm so, so sorry." He looked at Tai with clear eyes. "I wasn't in my right mind. Kun did something to me." His eyes started to well up.

Tai took an instinctive step forwards to comfort his friend. Into Matt's circle.

Matt snarled and lunged. Tai dropped into a roll, causing Matt's blade to graze his right shoulder. He backed up quickly, igniting his own lightsabre. "That was a dirty trick Matt."

Matt cocked his head to one side. "Was it? I was just trying to get you close enough to kill you." He darted forwards again, thrusting at Tai's side.

This time Tai parried, then started his own attack. He moved in a series of gentle sweeps on the edge of Matt's circle, testing Matt's defences. "I don't want to hurt you Matt."

Matt lunged in close and started an exchange of blows that ended in their sabres locking, the blue and orange blades connecting near their hilts. "Guess what? I want to hurt you." Matt shoved hard, overbalancing Tai onto his back. Matt stood over Tai. "You die, and my pain stops."

"Pain?" asked Tai. His eyes widened as Matt brought his lightsabre down in a stabbing motion. Tai rolled to one side, and up onto his feet. "What pain? Pain like Izzy may be in?" He moved into the attack, swinging his lightsabre round in a flashy move, and then starting to slowly beat Matt back using scything motions. "Hell, I don't even know if he's still alive."

Matt smirked. "Still scoring zero on the whole telepathy thing I see." He fell back further, all while parrying Tai's blows. "Nice to know some things never change." Matt jumped backward, then backwards somersaulted up onto a narrow ledge that ran around the room for decoration. "You know, from up here you look like the ant you are." Matt held up a hand. "I could just reach out and…" he moved his finger and thumb together in a pinching motion.

One of Tai's hands flew to his neck as he felt something squeeze his windpipe. He closed his eyes and opened himself further to the Force, using it to prop his windpipe open and beat back Matt's grip. He opened his eyes again.

Matt smirked down at him. "Very good." He jumped back down. "Let us finish this how it should be done. A duel, no tricks, no mercy."

Tai frowned. "Please Matt. Some part of you must not want this."

Matt shook his head. "Wrong Kamiya. I want this. I _need _this. You die. Now." He lunged at Tai with renewed ferocity.

_If I keep fighting defensively, _thought Tai, _I'll lose. _Tai made a hard decision. _Him or me, one of us won't walk away. _He let go of his thoughts, letting the blade do the work for him. He beat Matt down, backed him against the wall, then down on one knee. He raised his sabre for the killing blow.

"Tai, please!" begged Matt, panic in his eyes.

Tai paused in his blow.

Matt plunged his lightsabre clean though Tai's stomach. "I win," he sneered.

Tai's mouth opened in a perfect 'O'. Matt drew his blade back out sharply, smiling as he knew that Tai would suffer for several minutes from the cauterised wound before dying, as opposed to the quick death that falling through his blade would cause.

"Bastard," choked out Tai, sinking to his knees, then keeling over onto his side, one hand wrapped protectively around his stomach.

Matt shut down his lightsabre and got to his feet. "Enjoy the pain you're in, it's the last thing you'll feel." He walked away, towards the stairs. Towards T.K.


End file.
